Oliver Hardy

Born Norvell Hardy on January 18, 1892, he entered film in 1914 with Outwitting Dad, working through the silent era often billed as Babe Hardy. In 1926 he joined producer Hal Roach and formed the partnership with Stan Laurel that would define both their careers. They worked together through silents into talkies, through shorts and features and cameos, a pairing that held until 1957. He died August 7, 1957, thirty-one years into a collaboration that never quite wore out.