Norvell Hardy was born on January 18, 1892 in Harlem, Georgia. His father Oliver had been a soldier in the Civil War — fighting for The South, of course — and Dad died when Norvell was one year old. When Norvell was around the age of 18, he began going by the name Oliver Norvell Hardy.
A poor student in school, his interests turned towards entertaining and at least once, he ran away from home to join a troupe of actors and singers. Around the time he took his father's name, he got a job working in a movie theater in Milledgeville and as he watched the primitive films of 1910, he kept thinking, "I could do that." A few years later, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida and proved it. His first film role appears to have been an otherwise-forgettable 1914 short called Unwitting Dad. He was billed as "O.N. Hardy" but away from the camera, friends called him Babe. It was a nickname he picked up from a barber near the Lubin Manufacturing Company, which was the studio that gave him his first screen roles.
Babe Hardy moved from Florida to New York and then in 1917, to Los Angeles. Everywhere he went, he made movies — so many that researchers are still finding new credits for him. Mostly, he was in comedies but he did dramatic parts, as well. Mostly, he played "heavies" (what they then called the villains) but he was quite good when he was a lead comic.
In 1921, he played a small role as a mugger in a film called Lucky Dog. The lead comic — the person he tried to rob in the film — was the British comedian, Stan Laurel. Nothing came of their proximity then but in 1924, Hardy went to work for the Hal Roach Studio and a few years later, Laurel popped up there, mostly as a writer and director. In 1926, Hardy was cast in a short called Get 'Em Young but he injured himself in a kitchen accident and Laurel was tagged to return to a position in front of the cameras to fill in.
That led to Laurel acting in more Roach comedies. He and Hardy were both in a film called 45 Minutes From Hollywood, though they shared no scenes. Then they appeared in more films together and did share scenes…more and more until it became obvious that these two men were funny together. Before 1927 was out, there were Laurel & Hardy comedies and there always will be.
I can't think of anyone I enjoy watching more on the screen than Babe Hardy. A lot of comics in the silent era were funny because they fell off cliffs or into mud puddles. He did plenty of that as well as anyone but he could also be funny just reacting…or looking into the camera…or doing something simple like writing his name in a ledger. He died in 1957 but people still laugh at his performances and they always will. Today, in honor of his birthday, I'm going to try to find time to watch him and Stan be so wonderful in Sons of the Desert.