Feb 26, 2010

Stan Laurel

Stan Laurel, born June 16, 1890 at Cumbria, England UK Died February 23, 1965. "If any of you cry at my funeral, I'll never speak to you again!" - Stan Laurel

I am a card carrying member of the 'Sons of the Desert', the official fan club of the boys (not the Texas country band). Stan gave his permission to form the group, 'as long as it maintained a certain half-assed dignity.'

Way back when, I was in the Michigan tent (group), called the Dancing Cuckoos (named after the song from one of their movies). Each state had a name taken after a movie and Michigan was the only one to use the name from a song. I had the chance to meet some of the supporting characters from their movies, Stan's daughter Lois and T. Marvin Hatley, who wrote some of the movie songs, including this one from the Sons of the desert movie LINK.

Below is my badge. Oh, and yes, I also have the obligatory fez.

The Sons of the Desert is still going strong and has groups all over the world. The last annual convention (held every two years) was in Amsterdam. This year's convention will be held in June, in Sacramento. Alas, the Texas tent has folded.

Stan Laurel: You remember how dumb I used to be?
Oliver Hardy: Yeah?
Stan Laurel: Well, I’m better now.

PS - It has been confirmed that Clint Eastwood is not Stan's son.