Stan Laurel

An iconic comedian who shot to fame as one-half of the most famous pair in film history, Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in Ulverston, England, on June 16, 1890, and honed his skills in an English acting troupe alongside a yet-to-be-discovered Charlie Chaplin before moving to the United States and taking on work behind the camera.

But the lanky Laurel's film career didn't really take off until he teamed up with portly American actor Oliver Hardy in a string of silent films and talkies throughout the 1920s, '30s and '40s, including Do Detectives Think? (1927), Pardon Us (1931), Sons of the Desert (1933) and Babes in Toyland, aka March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934), as well as the Oscar-winning comic short "The Music Box" (1932).

After appearing in more than 70 films with his longtime partner, who died of a heart attack in 1957, Laurel died on Feb. 23, 1965, at the age of 74.

Stan Laurel in This Is Your Life / At the Movies

Laurel & Hardy: This Is Your Life / Laurel & Hardy at the Movies

1955 NR

Born in the 1900s, the haunting and timeless comic antics of Laurel and Hardy, one of the greatest comedy film duos in history, still make film fans laugh out loud more than 50 years after their last on-screen pairing. This video includes a 1954 episode of the NBC series "This Is Your Life," celebrating the duo's career (with surprise appearances by friends and co-workers from their past); and the 2003 documentary "Laurel & Hardy at the Movies."