Famous People
“Laurel and Hardy have brought pleasure to millions and this statue will bring enjoyment to many more.” by established comedians George Robey and Dan Leno. He was also an understudy to the hugely popular Charlie Chaplin. He met Oliver
Karen Taylor is an English comedian who has appeared in sketch shows on ITV (’The Sketch Show’, with Lee Mack, Tim Vine, Jim Tavare and Ronni Ancona) and BBC3 (her own ‘Touch Me, I’m Karen Taylor’). See the BBC Website for details. Taylor says: “I had a fantastic upbringing in Barrow and although I can’t say if any of my material is directly inspired by the people of Barrow, I am still heavily influenced by the town I lived in for most of my life. I love Barrow, of course I do.”
Hardy in 1919 at the filming of ‘The Lucky Dog’ and Several years later,
Stan Laurel was a much loved British comic actor, writer and director, and was most famous as one half of the comedy double-act Laurel and Hardy. He was born in Ulverston in 1890 which is approximately 15 minutes drive from Barrow. Laurel began his career in Glasgow Britannia Theatre at the age of 16, where he crafted a comedy act largely inspired
both comedians appeared in the Hal Roach production ‘45 Minutes from Hollywood’ in 1926, however their first film together as ‘Stan and Ollie’ was ‘The Second Hundred Years’. A statue was unveiled in early 2009 by fellow comedian Ken Dodd outside the Coronation Hall. There is also a Laurel and Hardy Museum in Ulverston, this being one of only two museums dedicated to the double act, the second situated in Hardy’s birthplace, Harlem, Georgia, USA
“It is a gre live, it’s at place to right by sea an d you h the av Lake D istrict o e the n doorste your p.” Karen
Taylor