Two Englishmen And A Boat Trip To The USA
The Englishmen were Charlie Chaplin from London and Stan Laurel from Ulverston in Lancashire. Two completely unconnected people but they would go on to define comedy for generations, an influence that’s still felt to this very day.
Charlie Chaplin, born Charles Spencer Chaplain endured a tough childhood in Victorian London With an absent Father his Mother struggled financially — he was sent to a workhouse twice before age nine.
Aged just 14 his Mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin had begun performing at an early age in music halls and later as a stage actor and comedian. At 19, he was signed to the Fred Karno Company, which took him to the United States, the boat we mentioned.
He was scouted for the film industry and began appearing in 1914. By 1918, he was one of the world’s best-known figures.
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Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in Ulverston, Lancashire. Where as Chaplain had a difficult childhood Laurel’s parents were both very active in theatre. Like Chaplain he started his career in music hall. He joined Fred Karno’s troupe of actors in 1910 with the stage name of “Stan Jefferson”; the troupe also included a young Charlie Chaplain (it’s that boat again as both travelled to the USA with Karno). The music hall nurtured him and for some time Jefferson acted as Chaplin’s understudy.
It was 1927 when he began appearing alongside one Oliver Hardy in short films. It wasn’t long before the chemistry between the two was recognised and later that year the Laurel and Hardy partnership was born.
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Between them Charlie Chaplain and Laurel and Hardy have had one of the biggest influences on comedy to date.