Short Biography

His Scottish-English parents were never in show business. As a young boy, he was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In 1910, he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In 1913, he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida and began appearing in a long series of shorts; his debut film was Outwitting Dad (1914); 1914-5 was the "Pokes and Jabbs" series; 1916-8 saw the "Plump and Runt" series, 1919-21 the "Jimmy Aubrey" series, and from 1921-5 he worked as an actor and co-director of comedy shorts for Larry Semon. In 1917, he had played a bit part in The Lucky Dog (1921), starring Stan Laurel. His first two-reeler with Laurel was Forty-five Minutes from Hollywood (1926). Their first release through MGM was Sugar Daddies (1927) and the first with star billing was From Soup to Nuts (1928). Their first feature-length starring roles were in Pardon Us (1931). Their work became more production-line and less popular during the war years, mostly working for Twentieth Century-Fox. Their last movie together was The Bullfighters (1945) except for a French failure (Atoll K (1951)). He appeared without Laurel in Zenobia (1939), The Fighting Kentuckian (1949)_ and_ Riding High (1950)_ and died seven years later.

Miscellaneous Information

Distinctive Features

The line, usually directed toward Stan Laurel: "This is another nice mess you`ve gotten me into!"

Most famous outfit was a dark suit, a black necktie, and a dark bowler hat.

The tie-twiddle, used to convey a sense of coyness or embarrassment.

The "slow burn" - Looking into the camera, often with an expression of exasperatedsuffering over what his on-screen partner had just done.

His black hair was always combed forward.

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