[West Ender]

Following on from the George Formby thread, I wonder how many people rate Stan Laurel as highly as I do?

Stan was born in Ulverston, which was in Lancs then, and went to California as a young man along with Charlie Chaplin and others. He was one of the most inventive comic actors of all time. When he teamed up with Oliver (Babe) Hardy they became, in my opinion, the best and funniest double act ever. Most of what they did was devised and directed by Stan and they complimented each other so well their comedy was just fantastic. Stan's apparent idiocy and Babe's oh so pompous stupidity go together to make all their work brilliant (and Babe was a good singer, too, they often got a bit of his singing in).

My favourite L and H film has to be "Way Out West" which has some of the best moments of Stan's comic genius. Who but Stan could light a pipe with his thumb? Who but Stan could drive a cart across a ford while Babe, walking alongside, disappears under the water? And what about their rendition of the song "Trail of the Lonesome Pine"?

To me, there's nobody like Stan and no comedy duo like the pair of them.