Actors - Oliver Hardy

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	Actors - Oliver Hardy

On January 18, 1892, Norvell Hardy was born in Harlem, Georgia. It wasn't until many years later that he adopted his father's name, Oliver, as his own, as a tribute to the father that he never knew. His parents were of English and Scottish descent. His father, Oliver, was a Confederate veteran wounded at the Battle of Antietam on April 9, 1865. After the war he worked as a foreman for the Georgia Southern Railroad, supervising the building of a rail line between Augusta and Madison. Their marriage took place on March 12, 1890, it was the second marriage for the widow, Emily, and the third for Oliver, who died less than a year after Norvell's birth.

Young Norvell was not an easy child to raise. He was not interested in education, although he acquired an early interest in music and theater, possibly from his mother's tenants. He ran away from home to join a theatrical group, and later ran away from a boarding school near Atlanta. His mother recognized his talent for singing, and sent him to Atlanta to study music and voice with a prominent musician, but Norvell skipped his lessons to sing in a vaudeville house. He was sent to a military college, but ran away from there, also. After toying with college and the idea of studying law, he decided to follow his dream of a singing career.

The Beginning

In 1910, a movie theater opened in the future Oliver Hardy's home town of Milledgeville, and Oliver became the projectionist, ticket taker, janitor and manager. He soon became obsessed with the new motion picture industry, and became convinced that he could do a better job than the actors he saw on the screen. A friend suggested that he move to Jacksonville where some films were being made. In 1913 he did just that, where he worked as a cabaret and vaudeville singer at night, and at the Lubin film studio during the day. It was at this time that he met and married his first wife, pianist Madelyn Saloshin.

The next year he made his first movie, "Outwitting Dad", for the Lubin studio. He was billed as O. N. Hardy, taking his father's name as a memorial. He was known as Oliver Hardy for the remainder of his professional life. In his personal life, he was known as "Babe" Hardy instead, a nickname that he was given by an Italian barber, who applied talc to Oliver's cheeks and say, "nice-a-bab-y". In many of his later films at Lubin he was billed as Babe Hardy. Oliver was a big man. He stood six feet one inch tall and weighed up to 300 pounds. His size placed limitations on the roles he could play. He was most often cast as "the heavy" (no pun intended) or the villain. He also frequently had roles in comedy shorts, his size complimenting the character.

By 1915, he had made 50 short 1-reeler films at the Lubin studio. He later moved to New York and made films for the Pathe, Casino and Edison studios. He then returned to Jacksonville and made films for the Vim and King Bee studios. He worked with Charlie Chaplin imitator Billy West during this time. In 1917, Oliver Hardy moved to Los Angeles, working freelance for several Hollywood studios. The next year, he appeared in the movie "The Lucky Dog", produced by "Bronco Billy" Anderson and starring a young British comedian named Stan Laurel. Oliver Hardy played the part of a robber, trying to stick up Stan's character. They did not work together again for several years, eventually forming the famous team of Laurel and Hardy.

Between 1918 and 1923 Oliver Hardy made more than 40 films for Vitagraph, playing the "heavy" for Larry Semon, another Charlie Chaplin's imitator. In 1919, he separated from his wife, ending with a divorce in 1920, due to Babe's infidelity. The very next year, on November 24th 1921, Babe married again, to actress Myrtle Reeves. This marriage was also unhappy, with Myrtle eventually becoming an alcoholic.

At the Roach Studios, prior to Laurel and Hardy

In 1924, Oliver Hardy began working at Roach Studios, where he made some of his best films, working with the Our Gang films and Charley Chase. In 1925, he was in a film "Yes, Yes, Nanette!" starring James Finlayson, who in later years was a recurring character in the Laurel and Hardy film series. The film was directed by Stan Laurel.

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Actors - Oliver Hardy

The Beginning

At the Roach Studios, prior to Laurel and Hardy

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