Laurel and Hardy - (Popular Culture Bio-Bibliographies,) by Wes Gehring (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book presents a combined biographical, critical, and bibliographical estimate of Laurel & Hardy's significance in film comedy, the arts in general, and as popular culture icons. Of the two, Laurel decidedly evolves as the central player in this duo biography. The reasons for this are several, but mainly stem from Laurel's role as team spokesman; his late life accessibility; media coverage given to his private life; and the fact that he outlived Hardy by eight years--from 1957 to 1965--a period in which the ever burgeoning public fascination with the team reached new proportions. Hardy's artistic input, however, is currently being given a revisionist upgrading, which Gehring addresses.

The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is a biography of Laurel & Hardy, exploring the public and private sides of their lives. Chapter 2 is a critique of four broad influences of Laurel & Hardy--as special icons of comic frustrations; as developers of a change in film comedy pacing (which also eased their transition from silent to sound film); as movie pioneers in the innovative early use of comic sound; and, most importantly, as key participants in the evolution of the comic antihero into American mainstream humor. Chapter 3 is composed of two very early reprinted Laurel & Hardy articles and a special Encore collection. Chapter 4 is a very ambitious Laurel & Hardy bibliographical essay, assessing key reference materials and locating research collections open to the student and/or scholar. This involves many obscure, often early and/or untranslated articles drawn from research in Ulverston England--Laurel's birthplace--London and Paris. Chapter 5 is a bibliographical checklist of all sources recommended in Chapter 4. This volume should be of special interest to all Laurel & Hardy aficionados, and students/scholars of comedy.

Book Synopsis

This book presents a combined biographical, critical, and bibliographical estimate of Laurel & Hardy's significance in film comedy, the arts in general, and as popular culture icons. Of the two, Laurel decidedly evolves as the central player in this duo biography. The reasons for this are several, but mainly stem from Laurel's role as team spokesman; his late life accessibility; media coverage given to his private life; and the fact that he outlived Hardy by eight years--from 1957 to 1965--a period in which the ever burgeoning public fascination with the team reached new proportions. Hardy's artistic input, however, is currently being given a revisionist upgrading, which Gehring addresses.

The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 is a biography of Laurel & Hardy, exploring the public and private sides of their lives. Chapter 2 is a critique of four broad influences of Laurel & Hardy--as special icons of comic frustrations; as developers of a change in film comedy pacing (which also eased their transition from silent to sound film); as movie pioneers in the innovative early use of comic sound; and, most importantly, as key participants in the evolution of the comic antihero into American mainstream humor. Chapter 3 is composed of two very early reprinted Laurel & Hardy articles and a special Encore collection. Chapter 4 is a very ambitious Laurel & Hardy bibliographical essay, assessing key reference materials and locating research collections open to the student and/or scholar. This involves many obscure, often early and/or untranslated articles drawn from research in Ulverston England--Laurel's birthplace--London and Paris. Chapter 5 is a bibliographical checklist of all sources recommended in Chapter 4. This volume should be of special interest to all Laurel & Hardy aficionados, and students/scholars of comedy.

Review Quotes

.,."Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography provides the reseracher and the student with everything he or she needs to know about the comedy duo; and, quite frankly, it supercedes a lot of the books which have gone before. Recommended."-Classic Images

?...Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography provides the reseracher and the student with everything he or she needs to know about the comedy duo; and, quite frankly, it supercedes a lot of the books which have gone before. Recommended.?-Classic Images

?Continuing his exceptional series of substantial reference works on film comedy--Charles Chaplin; W.C. Fields; The Marx Brothers --Gehring adds this welcome volume, a fresh, definitive study of the comic duo who carried the mantle of laughter from silent into sound movies. Gehring's biographical section weaves the team's personal lives and professional careers into a fascinating tapestry, giving order, clarity, and cogency to a complex tangle of details, events, and creative sources (e.g., comic strips, music halls, marital crises, director Leo McCarey, and neglected comedians like Larry Semon.) Included with the biographical checklist (which itself is a veritable goldmine) are reprints of key historical articles and interviews, a basic filmography, a helpful chronology, a critical analysis of works on Laurel and Hardy, and a reworking of Gehring's own classic article on comic antiheroes. This remarkably readable, insightful, and comprehensive work of scholarship should be a standard resource for every library. It is a superlative model for all future biobibliographies, as well as an extremely enjoyable and informative book.?-Choice

?Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography presents a combined biographical, critical and bibliographical portrait of the Laurel & Hardy comedy team. It evaluates their significance in film comedy, the arts in general, and as popular culture icons. This should be a welcome addition to the material on the duo for both its condensing and critiquing of the earlier material and its own assessment of their careers.?-Sightlines

"Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography presents a combined biographical, critical and bibliographical portrait of the Laurel & Hardy comedy team. It evaluates their significance in film comedy, the arts in general, and as popular culture icons. This should be a welcome addition to the material on the duo for both its condensing and critiquing of the earlier material and its own assessment of their careers."-Sightlines

..."Laurel and Hardy: A Bio-Bibliography provides the reseracher and the student with everything he or she needs to know about the comedy duo; and, quite frankly, it supercedes a lot of the books which have gone before. Recommended."-Classic Images

"Continuing his exceptional series of substantial reference works on film comedy--Charles Chaplin; W.C. Fields; The Marx Brothers --Gehring adds this welcome volume, a fresh, definitive study of the comic duo who carried the mantle of laughter from silent into sound movies. Gehring's biographical section weaves the team's personal lives and professional careers into a fascinating tapestry, giving order, clarity, and cogency to a complex tangle of details, events, and creative sources (e.g., comic strips, music halls, marital crises, director Leo McCarey, and neglected comedians like Larry Semon.) Included with the biographical checklist (which itself is a veritable goldmine) are reprints of key historical articles and interviews, a basic filmography, a helpful chronology, a critical analysis of works on Laurel and Hardy, and a reworking of Gehring's own classic article on comic antiheroes. This remarkably readable, insightful, and comprehensive work of scholarship should be a standard resource for every library. It is a superlative model for all future biobibliographies, as well as an extremely enjoyable and informative book."-Choice

About the Author

WES D. GEHRING is a Professor in the Department of Communications at Ball State University. He was named BSU Outstanding Young Faculty, 1982-1983 and Outstanding Researcher, 1985-1986.