There is a very strong, indefinable spiritual bond that binds comedians together, one that makes them want to seek out each other's company - regardless of the distance or hardship involved. Thus it was that the lives of the three greatest screen clowns that England ever produced were destined to cross. Such was the impact of these meetings, that the lives of at least two of them were changed and sustained during their formative comedy years.
With the first two, namely Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, there is no doubting that Laurel benefitted immensely from his work with, and studies of, Chaplin; even going on to imitate him when in vaudeville with the Three Comiques and The Keystone Trio. Of the other relationship, we shall speak more of, here.
Playing on the London stage in 1947, Laurel and Hardy were former film comedians whose star was in the descendency, whilst at a nearby theatre was a young, unknown English comedian, who had yet to find his way in to films. An appearance on a charity show was to place him on on the first rung towards that climb. On Sunday April 27th, the "Water Rats" staged the Rats' Revel, at the Victoria Palace. This unknown comedian may have started the show "unknown" but, after finishing his act, wasn't to remain so much longer. The reaction he received was ecstatic. His name - Norman Wisdom. Below, Norman takes up the story:
I was in a show at the Hackney Empire. The producer asked me if I would do a charity concert on the forthcoming Sunday. I immediately said 'yes', as at that time I would have done anything to get on stage. I would have made the tea, if they'd asked me. On Sunday morning, I turned up for rehearsals, and there were all these big stars: George Doonan, Vera Lynn, Will Fyffe, and Laurel & Hardy. I did my rehearsal on about two foot of stage, and nobody took a blind bit of notice. Amongst all these stars, I wasn't known from Adam. In the evening, though - if I say so myself - I went extremely well, and had to take several bows.
The reviews certainly bear out Norman's recollections. The Performer said:
Then came one of the outstanding hits of the evening, young Norman Wisdom, who bounced himself up one more rung of the ladder towards stardom with yet another exhibition of uproarious foolishness.
The Stage said:
Vera Lynn, Laurel & Hardy, and Will Fyffe all provided of their best in this half of the show, but it was newcomer, Norman Wisdom, who took the house by storm with some of the funniest business possible.
Stan Laurel's immediate response was to approach agent Billy Marsh and say: "You want to sign this man up. He's a great clown.
The three comedians' next chance meeting was in Belgium. Laurel
and Hardy had completed a twenty-five week tour of England and Scotland,
and were now acceeding to European theatre demands. Stan and Ollie weren't
due to appear at the Alhambra, in Brussels, until 19 December 1947
but, between December 10th and December 18th, spent time rehearsing there.
Norman was appearing in the then current show, Piccadilly Nights,
part of which was a paper-hanging sketch. One night Norman's partner in the
sketch slipped off the ladder, which had become slippy with wallpaper paste,
and hurt his ankle. The following day, Stan who stayed on to chat with Norman
before each show, immediately volunteered to take over the role. Nothing
could have thrilled Norman more, but it only served to horrify the theatre
manager, who wasn't going to risk his following week's headliner getting
injured. The thought of "Laurel and Wisdom" has, however, continued to fill
Norman with warmth and pride to this day. [For anyone who wishes to visualise
what Stan's part in the sketch would have been, you need only get hold of
a copy of the 1961 Sunday Night at the London Palladium television
special, in which Norman performed the said sketch with Bruce Forsyth.]
A couple of years later, Norman himself had metaphorically slipped down the ladder, and felt that his fortune lay in America. Putting together all the money he had, which amounted to little more than the air fare, he flew to Hollywood, and started to do the rounds of agents and studios. Getting nowhere he thought he would at least salvage something, and visit his idol, Stan Laurel. Stan was delighted to receive the phone call, and told Norman, "Yeh! come on over. Jump in a cab. I'm only just round the corner." Stan's definition of a "just round the corner" worried the heck out of Norman as the cab just kept going and going, and the meter kept running and running. Checking the cash in his pocket, Norman was all for abandoning the cab upon realising that the fare exceeded his resources. Thus it was, upon his finally arriving, that Norman had to rush inside Stan's appartment and borrow the excess.
Another two years on and we find Laurel and Hardy, too,
returning to England after finding that Hollywood doesn't always recognise
genius. The two comic legends disembarked from the Queen Mary at
Southampton, on Monday 28th January, 1952, and went immediately to London.
The following night they were given a reception, hosted by Bernard Delfont,
at the Washington Hotel; where several showbusiness acts came for
an audience with the two superstars. Norman was in appearing as 'Buttons'
in the pantomime Cinderella, at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton,
but somehow managed to get down to London for the reception. Time and distance
weren't going to stop his reunion with his all time greats.
Photo shows BERNARD DELFONT, STAN LAUREL, OLIVER
HARDY,
and ALBERT WHELAN, at the Washington Hotel.
..
The following night, the "Water Rats" held a dinner at the Park
Lane Hotel, in London. Amongst those present was Charlie Chaplin;
and the highlights of the evening were shown on television. Laurel and Hardy,
for whom the occasion would have been an ideal farewell, did not attend.
With the Boys conspicuous by their absence, it is strange to learn that the
following night they were in London - at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
It was a few minutes before the star of the show spotted them sitting in
the audience but, when he did, he ad-libbed his way into coming off the stage
and doing some comic business with them. Needless to say, the house was in
uproar.
NORMAN comes off-stage to meet his comic idols.
.
.
.
After the show Stan and Babe went backstage to congratulate the comic genius on his fantastic success. In 1947, the comedian had been taking his first faltering steps into comedy. Now, only five years later, he was headlining a show which was to run for over eighteen months. What was lovely to see, was that after their own phenomenal career, Laurel and Hardy's last gesture before they left Britain, was to go and pass on their best wishes to him. Norman Wisdom had come a long way.
NORMAN WISDOM with LAUREL &
HARDY
Photo taken backstage at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London
(6 October 1952)
Next time you say Norman Wisdom, say: "Sir."