This Website is dedicated to the persons, lives and films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The site is now largely complete, but please revisit to see things as they develop as I am adding new items on an ongoing basis.
It is also the website of the Beau Chumps Tent of Sunderland, one of the many worldwide chapters, or ‘tents’, of the Sons of the Desert’ – the Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society. We meet on the second Wednesday of every month (formerly the second Tuesday) at the Boars Head, High Street East in Sunderland*.
Stan and Ollie played the Sunderland Empire in both March 1952 and February 1954, visited with Stan’s old stage pal, Bennie Barron at the *Boars Head on several occasions and Stan of course has many connections with the North-East of England. Please see the ‘Features’ page here or via the menu above for more details.
Throughout the site, I have tried to refer to the boys as individuals as ‘Stan’ and ‘Babe’, to the team as ‘Laurel and Hardy’ and the characters as ‘Stan’ and ‘Ollie’. Very simple where Stan is concerned, but with Babe, not so much…
The original Beau Chumps Tent were very active in the 80’s and early 90’s and it has long been my intention to re-establish the tent. As I am now essentially retired, I am able to put my shoulder to the wheel, take the bull by the horns and get the tent into the digital age with DVDs, websites, emails and other tools of convenience. No humping a projector and screen around these days, he says…
Mike Jones: December 2018
If viewing on a phone or mobile device, please note the site is optimised to be viewed in the landscape mode.
