Laurel and Hardy
Englishman Stan Laurel and American Oliver Hardy were both well know actors, before they began their double act. Stan Laurel had acted in over 50 films and Oliver Hardy in 250 short films. They first began working together in 1921. Their first picture was Lucky Dog. Their film The Music Box, won an academy award in 1932.
In 1944 they began a tour of England, Ireland and Scotland. The tour lasted 15 months in which time they appeared at the Royal Variety Performance, and also in Southend-on-Sea. They arrived by train and stayed at the Palace Hotel. The pair performed at the Odeon in the High Street and The Regal in Tyler’s Avenue.
The Laurel and Hardy appreciation Society called Sons of the Desert started in 1965, each group, or tent, took the name of a film, the Southend branch, named Saps at Sea, started in 1998
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the pair’s visit to Southend a blue plaque was unveiled be Sir John Mills.I n 1910 the plaque was placed in the foyer of the newly refurbished Palace Hotel, now named the Park Inn Palace, where function rooms are named after the popular pair.