Bruce Calvert
2007-11-20 19:39:18 UTC
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1819072007
Another fine mess: how a comic genius was born
MARC HORNE
THE battered hat, bent brolly and spats may be unfamiliar, but the mirthful
smile and twinkling eyes are unmistakable.
The remarkable image on the right of a teenage Stan Laurel depicts him as he
made his stage debut in Glasgow.
The picture also provides the definitive account of the legendary night the
lanky funnyman took his first faltering steps into showbusiness.
It has been published in a new history of Glasgow's Panopticon Music Hall,
compiled by Judith Bowers - who is spearheading a campaign to have it
restored and re-opened.
During her research, Bowers discovered a picture of Laurel - then known as
Stan Jefferson - dating from 1906 when he was an awkward 16-year-old comedy
newcomer. The sepia image came from the collection of Laurel's late
biographer John McCabe. "I was originally told that it came from the Laurel
and Hardy Museum in Ulverston in Cumbria, but they had never seen it
before," said Bowers. "No one really knows how John came to have it."
The director of the Panopticon Music Hall Trust made it her mission to some
shed light on Laurel's first performance.
And the tale has so fascinated Taggart star Alex Norton that he has revealed
plans to turn it into a TV drama. The book tells how Laurel came to Glasgow
with his father, AJ Jefferson, who was the manager of the city's Metropole
Music Hall. From the age of 14 he regularly played truant from school to
catch the 2.30 matinee at the Panopticon, which was also known as the
Britannia. He would watch his favourite comic and memorise not only the
jokes but also the facial expressions, costumes, body language and delivery.
A month after turning 16, Laurel approached theatre manager AE Pickard and
was rewarded with a place on the bill.
Stan bounded on to stage wearing his father's best silk top hat and suit -
which he had borrowed and modified without permission - unaware that his dad
was in the front row.
He began his disastrous stand-up routine with a leaden quip about a
butterfly who couldn't attend a dance on the grounds that it was a moth
ball. Understandably, his gags did not go down too well.
"Stan decided it was time to make an exit and took off his hat for a final
bow," said Bowers. "In his nervousness he fumbled and dropped the hat. He
stepped forward to pick it up, but his foot connected with it and kicked it
into the orchestra where it was trampled.
"He began to side-step off the stage unaware that the stage manager had
already begun setting up the next act, which was a trapeze routine. A hook
left on the stage behind Stan caught on the back of his father's best silk
frock coat and tore it clean up the back. Stan's face was a picture and the
audience was sent into hysterics."
The youngster found himself being commended on his natural comic ability and
was given a modest role in a touring pantomime. Within four years he was
performing in the States alongside Charlie Chaplin.
Then in 1917 he made the first of more than 100 film appearances with Oliver
Hardy.
Taggart star Norton - famous for his role as granite-faced lawman DCI
Burke - is now looking to bring Laurel's hilarious debut to the small
screen.
"I am planning to have the script finished within three months," he said.
"My biggest challenge will be to find an actor who can play young Stan."
mhorne(at)scotlandonsunday(dot)com
Another fine mess: how a comic genius was born
MARC HORNE
THE battered hat, bent brolly and spats may be unfamiliar, but the mirthful
smile and twinkling eyes are unmistakable.
The remarkable image on the right of a teenage Stan Laurel depicts him as he
made his stage debut in Glasgow.
The picture also provides the definitive account of the legendary night the
lanky funnyman took his first faltering steps into showbusiness.
It has been published in a new history of Glasgow's Panopticon Music Hall,
compiled by Judith Bowers - who is spearheading a campaign to have it
restored and re-opened.
During her research, Bowers discovered a picture of Laurel - then known as
Stan Jefferson - dating from 1906 when he was an awkward 16-year-old comedy
newcomer. The sepia image came from the collection of Laurel's late
biographer John McCabe. "I was originally told that it came from the Laurel
and Hardy Museum in Ulverston in Cumbria, but they had never seen it
before," said Bowers. "No one really knows how John came to have it."
The director of the Panopticon Music Hall Trust made it her mission to some
shed light on Laurel's first performance.
And the tale has so fascinated Taggart star Alex Norton that he has revealed
plans to turn it into a TV drama. The book tells how Laurel came to Glasgow
with his father, AJ Jefferson, who was the manager of the city's Metropole
Music Hall. From the age of 14 he regularly played truant from school to
catch the 2.30 matinee at the Panopticon, which was also known as the
Britannia. He would watch his favourite comic and memorise not only the
jokes but also the facial expressions, costumes, body language and delivery.
A month after turning 16, Laurel approached theatre manager AE Pickard and
was rewarded with a place on the bill.
Stan bounded on to stage wearing his father's best silk top hat and suit -
which he had borrowed and modified without permission - unaware that his dad
was in the front row.
He began his disastrous stand-up routine with a leaden quip about a
butterfly who couldn't attend a dance on the grounds that it was a moth
ball. Understandably, his gags did not go down too well.
"Stan decided it was time to make an exit and took off his hat for a final
bow," said Bowers. "In his nervousness he fumbled and dropped the hat. He
stepped forward to pick it up, but his foot connected with it and kicked it
into the orchestra where it was trampled.
"He began to side-step off the stage unaware that the stage manager had
already begun setting up the next act, which was a trapeze routine. A hook
left on the stage behind Stan caught on the back of his father's best silk
frock coat and tore it clean up the back. Stan's face was a picture and the
audience was sent into hysterics."
The youngster found himself being commended on his natural comic ability and
was given a modest role in a touring pantomime. Within four years he was
performing in the States alongside Charlie Chaplin.
Then in 1917 he made the first of more than 100 film appearances with Oliver
Hardy.
Taggart star Norton - famous for his role as granite-faced lawman DCI
Burke - is now looking to bring Laurel's hilarious debut to the small
screen.
"I am planning to have the script finished within three months," he said.
"My biggest challenge will be to find an actor who can play young Stan."
mhorne(at)scotlandonsunday(dot)com
--
Bruce Calvert
--
Visit the Silent Film Still Archive
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com
Bruce Calvert
--
Visit the Silent Film Still Archive
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com