Originally published in the Guardian on 15 August 1977
Twelve years after his death, Stan Laurel has somehow managed to get the little Cumbria town of Ulverston into another fine mess. Stanley Arthur Jefferson didn't know what he was letting the place in for when he was born there in 1890. The comedian who found fame as the skinny, snivelling half of Laurel and Hardy was brought up by his maternal grandmother at 3 Argyll Street for the first six years of his life.
And last week Ulverston decided to put on a Grand Stan Laurel Exhibition. Ulverston's Most Famous Son, trumpeted the hoardings – until somebody pointed out that Councillor So-and-so, of fragrant memory, who introduced Belisha beacons to the town in 1952, or perhaps did something else even worthier, was more relevant to Ulverston than a dead film comic who disappeared off to America and, moreover, was married several times and was reputed to drink.
Twelve years after his death, Stan Laurel has somehow managed to get the little Cumbria town of Ulverston into another fine mess. Stanley Arthur Jefferson didn't know what he was letting the place in for when he was born there in 1890. The comedian who found fame as the skinny, snivelling half of Laurel and Hardy was brought up by his maternal grandmother at 3 Argyll Street for the first six years of his life.
And last week Ulverston decided to put on a Grand Stan Laurel Exhibition. Ulverston's Most Famous Son, trumpeted the hoardings – until somebody pointed out that Councillor So-and-so, of fragrant memory, who introduced Belisha beacons to the town in 1952, or perhaps did something else even worthier, was more relevant to Ulverston than a dead film comic who disappeared off to America and, moreover, was married several times and was reputed to drink.
- 8/15/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
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