Arthur B Friedman talks to Stan Laurel
Recorded August 14th 1957, just 1 week after Oliver Hardy died.
(listen to the complete interview below - over 1 hour long)
Dr Arthur B. Friedman interviews Stan Laurel for Turning Point on August the 14th, 1957, only a week after the death of his comedy partner, Oliver Hardy. In this 66 minute interview Stan talks about many things including:
Oliver Hardy’s death;
His beginnings in a juvenile pantomime company;
Working for his father in his theatres;
How and why he became a comic;
Understudying Charlie Chaplin in the Fred Karno Troupe;
The hardships, good times, partnerships and professional jealousy of his vaudeville career;
His family;
The Stan Jefferson Trio;
Costumes;
His early film career with Larry Semon, Bronco Billy, and Hal Roach;
How he became a gag writer and director after struggling to find a comic character;
How he was teamed with Oliver Hardy and his return to films;
Early film making techniques, where gags come from and off the cuff shooting techniques;
His relationship with Oliver Hardy and how their characters developed;
Silent, talkie and feature length films;
The worldwide appeal of Laurel and Hardy;
His retirement, hobbies, health and fan mail.
10 comments:
wow great to hear - thanks!
Great! It is so strange for me, to hear the Stan voice. It seemed to hear an current program on the radio. It was really an exciting and thrilling moment!
Thanks so much for this document.
Friedman intensified his expression of admiration as he went along, and in doing so he made me feel that I was sitting with Stan explaining to him just how important he was to me (to all of us). It's sad that he was in mourning for Babe at the time, but it's evident that he was aware that all the work had not been in vain.
I love it! I am a huge fan of The Boys, and it is indeed good to hear Stanley talk about his life before, during and after Laurel & Hardy. I hope you will keep this on your blog site, I'd like to create a link to it so members from my email forum can come to listen.
A wonderful find - thanks so much for posting this.
What a joy and privilege to be able to hear this interview. The fact that fellow "Arthur" (Mr. Friedman) clearly enjoyed the experience, actually breaking up in laughter several times is an added bonus! Stan's genuine amazement and modesty at the level of his and Babe's success is something that today's celebrities could do well to emulate!
I stumbled onto this today. SO glad I did. Only wish my dad had heard it before his passing. It was thru my dad that I came to love L & H. We NEVER let a TV feature of one of their films get by us.
I sure hope future generations come to discover and appreciate the genius of this duo.
This is a wonderful moment. To be able to spend it with Stan Laurel is just great!
Thank You for sharing!
Sten
I have always loved Stan and Ollie and now my grandchildren do too. Thank you so much for posting this it's so wonderful to hear it.
Soo
What a heart warming interview! It was lovely to hear Stan and all about his life. I could hear him really warm up as the interviewer drew out the best in him during the hour being a big fan himself. God bless both Stan and Oliver, so much joy through simplicity and genius comedy.
Best Quint
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