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Eddie Laughton

 
Actor: Eddie Laughton
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: 1903 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK
  • Died: Mar 21, 1952 in Hollywood, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy

Biography

Relocating from England to the U.S. in the 1920s, dapper, mustachioed Eddie Laughton worked in vaudeville until he was signed by Columbia Pictures in 1935. Laughton spent most of his time in the studio's two-reel comedies, earning his $55 per day in an exhausting variety of roles: hotel clerks, gangsters, snobbish socialites, jealous lovers, train conductors, and, sometimes, just one of the crowd. The Three Stooges, Columbia's top two-reel attraction, were so impressed by Laughton that they hired him as his straight man for their stage appearances. After toting up hundreds of credits in both shorts and features, Laughton left Columbia in 1945 to free-lance. Retiring in 1949, Eddie Laughton died of pneumonia three years later at the age of 49. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Eddie Laughton
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Eddie Laughton
Born June 20, 1903(1903-06-20)
Sheffield, England, UK
Died March 21, 1952 (aged 48)
Hollywood, California, USA
Years active 1938-1942

Eddie Laughton (June 20, 1903 – March 21, 1952) was a British-born American film actor. Born in Sheffield, England, Laughton (pronounced "law-ton") appeared in over 200 films between 1935 and 1952.

Contents

Career

Laughton left his native country of England to pursue a Hollywood movie career. He started in vaudeville, and, according to a biography of Larry Fine of the Three Stooges, managed a vaudeville theater where Fine once played.[1]

The pencil-mustached Laughton was placed under contract by Columbia Pictures in 1935. He appeared in many Columbia features, short subjects, and serials throughout the 1930s and 1940s.[2]

Modern viewers will remember Laughton for his role as "Percy Pomeroy, convict 41144" in the Stooge comedies So Long Mr. Chumps and Beer Barrel Polecats, or as the happy drunk in Loco Boy Makes Good. Laughton was an excellent utility player, useful in good-guy and bad-guy roles alike. (He and Columbia actor John Tyrrell shared many scenes.) Laughton was also a convincing dialect comedian, playing a French nobleman in Buster Keaton's She's Oil Mine, and an English big-game hunter plastered with pies in the Stooges' In the Sweet Pie and Pie.[3]

In addition to his roles in the Stooge shorts, Laughton joined the team during their personal appearances between filming schedules, acting as their straight man.[2]

Death

Laughton died of pneumonia on March 21, 1952, two months after Stooge co-star Curly Howard succumbed to a stroke. Both Laughton and Howard were 48 years of age.

Selected filmography

Laughton (second from left) looks on as the Stooges paint the town black in So Long Mr. Chumps.

External links

References

  1. ^ Cox, Steve; Jim Terry (2006). One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures. Cumberland House Publishing. ISBN 1581823630. 
  2. ^ a b Okuda, Ted; Edward Watz (1986). The Columbia Comedy Shorts. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 222. ISBN 0899501818. 
  3. ^ imdb.com

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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