'SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME?'

 by Vice-Shiek Steve O'Connor

It has been said that those living in the peculiar environment of the Hollywood film business are prone to two special complaints, the two A's: Alcoholism and Adultery. Although they played comics as opposed to romantic leads, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy were Hollywood stars and subject to the pressures and temptations of the accompanying lifestyle. Indeed it could be argued that for drama and scandal their private lives rivalled those of some of their more infamous contemporaries.

Stan drank to the extent that it affected his work and relationships; but he seems to have had a poor head for it, and ultimately drink did not ruin his career or his health. Babe liked to drink, (he blamed beer rather than food for his weight problems), but though he lingered at the nineteenth hole, he did not have a drink problem.

Between them they had eight marriages: Babe had three wives and Stan four, (one of them he married twice). Over the years there were to be many tempestuous scenes - certainly enough to attract the attention of the gossip columnists - but both were finally to enjoy domestic contentment during the latter part of their lives. All in all it makes for quite a tale.

Babe

Oliver Hardy's first marriage was to Madelyn Saloshin, a vaudeville pianist. Both had been working at the Orpheum Theatre in Jacksonville; Babe doing stints as a singer and Madelyn playing in the pit orchestra. Madelyn is described as a middle-class Jewish girl, rather plain but with sparkling eyes and very personable. (It probably did not escape Babe's attention that she was earning $300 per week as a featured performer while his income was a more modest $40). Madelyn got Babe a job with a touring vaudeville unit, and while on the road, they married in Macon, Georgia on November 17th 1913. Babe was 21, Madelyn, coy about her age, was possibly ten years older. When Babe's mother heard of the marriage she was reported to be, 'in a rage for days'.

There followed a period of travel and some early film work for Babe. By 1916 Babe had returned to Jacksonville cabaret and was now signed to the VIM Comedy Company - Madelyn was director of the ragtime orchestra playing at the Burbidge Hotel Cabaret. As VIM filmed only in daylight hours Babe was able to join her there in the evenings singing under his own billing, 'The Ton of Jollity'. Babe's income had now increased dramatically; and he liked to spend it. Babe and Madelyn appear to have been happy at this time. They had their own little family consisting of: Babe Jnr, a small, fluffy white dog, and Babe III, a controllable but mischievous Capuchin monkey. The domestic bliss was not to last.

1917 saw the demise of the Vim Comedy Company and spring found the Hardys in Bayonne, New Jersey, Babe working for The King Bee Company. (By this time America had entered the war and Babe endured a humiliating ordeal when he tried to enlist in New York. The recruiting officer gaped at Babe, looked him up and down and yelled in to another office, "Hey Sarge, come and look at what wants to enlist." The Sergeant came out, looked, and the two doubled up with laughter. The episode was less amusing to Babe). Hearing of the opportunities in California, Babe decided to 'go west'. Babe and Madelyn arrived in Hollywood in late 1917. It was to signal the rise of his career and the end of their marriage.

Babe quickly established a reputation as a comic heavy; he also established a reputation as something of a ladies man. Hollywood had no shortage of young beauties and Babe was not immune to their charms. Madelyn was plain and the discrepancy in their years had finally caught up. Babe began fooling around, and, when Madelyn found him out, it was probably a relief.

In 1919 Madelyn filed suit for separate maintenance and lawyers agreed an out of court settlement. Babe was to pay her $30 a week. He was irregular in his payments and soon failed to pay at all. He claimed, somewhat disingenuously, that he could not subsist on the divided salary. In her divorce suit, (summer 1920), Madelyn asserted that when she told Babe of her father's illness in Atlanta earlier that year he urged her to go to him and, 'they would forget all this nonsense' of the divorce suit. When Madelyn reached Atlanta she claimed she received a telegram from Babe saying, "I will not receive you as my wife. There is no use returning to Los Angeles." Madelyn did return and the divorce suit was implemented; notably, Madelyn did not ask for alimony. The $30 per week agreement was confirmed, and in November 1920, Madelyn received her interlocutory decree. The marriage was over, but there was to be a final curtain call. In 1936, just one week after Babe had been involved in an acrimonious court case with his second wife, Myrtle, Madelyn appeared claiming fifteen years back alimony. Babe settled out of court for an undisclosed sum and once again Madelyn left his life.

Myrtle

Newly a bachelor in 1920, it was not long before another lady appeared in Babe's life. Myrtle Reeves was another Southern girl. Born in Atlanta she had a pleasant Southern drawl and this was the first thing that attracted Babe to her. He described her as 'Home folks', and they married on Thanksgiving Day, 1921, in the Church of Christ, Hollywood.

That year Babe furthered his career by becoming chief foil and heavy for Vitagraph's Larry Semon. Semon, almost forgotten today, was then close in popularity to Chaplin. Though talented, he lacked that spark and personality so obvious in the teaming of Laurel & Hardy. If he had had those qualities, Semon & Hardy might have become a great comedy team.

Aside from work, Semon was to introduce Babe to what was quickly to become the great passion of his life - golf. He was to reach professional skill, and become the best known player in the film industry outside of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. He once claimed, "Golf - that was my game, the thing beside my wife I cared for most in the world." It is possible that Myrtle found herself the archetypal 'golf widow' and somewhat sidelined by her husband's obsession.

Semon was to die bankrupt in 1928; but on February 6th 1926, Babe had signed a long-term contract with Hal Roach. The security of the contract must have been very welcome. Babe had been bitten by the gambling bug. He frequented casinos and loved the racetrack; soon most of his earnings were gone. In desperation he even borrowed money from a friend for rent and car payments. If Babe was spending his time and money at the clubhouse and track then what was happening within the marriage?

By 1926 Myrtle had begun what was to be a long battle with alcohol. One school of thought suggests that she was devoted to Babe but that alcohol got the better of her. As the years went on modest drinking became binge drinking. Perhaps then, Babe spent so much time away from home as an escape from this problem. The alternative suggestion is that Myrtle; feeling cut off and abandoned by Babe's antics, was gradually worn down and increasingly turned to drink for consolation.

The marriage continued but it appears to have been an increasingly sad affair. Loneliness seems to have been at the heart of Myrtle's problems. She did not fit in with the Hollywood 'set' and there was little focus to her home life. Babe was often absent and had no desire to start a family. By 1929 he was finding fame with Stan Laurel, but he and Myrtle were growing apart. Babe was also now involved with an attractive widow, Viola Morse, once again a Southerner like himself. He was to describe her to Stan as his, 'close companion', yet there was no break with Myrtle. Was Babe keeping the marriage together for her sake or did he lack the will to admit to the affair and take responsibility for ending the marriage? In any case it was an unhappy situation.

Babe came home early one day to find Myrtle drunk and slumped in his chair. He spoke angrily to her, she retorted bitterly that she smelled another woman's perfume on his coat lapel. Babe stated his innocence but Myrtle did not believe him. On 25th July 1929 she filed for divorce, charging seven years of cruel treatment. Her deposition stated that her husband returned home on occasions, 'refusing to explain the evidence of his close proximity to persons using powder and cosmetics.' Babe had countered that contact with powder and cosmetics were inevitable in a movie studio.

In her complaint Myrtle went on to say that Babe had not returned home for several days at a time, and that he had said that he was through with her. Babe's view was that he had made such threats in frustration at her alcoholism but withdrew them when she burst into tears. There was no getting away from his absences from home; and if he was at the racetrack he was not unaccompanied. Despite the divorce application they stayed together at their home on Fredonia Avenue, Los Angeles, agreeing to separate when further judgment was made on her suit. The suit went into abeyance.

Early in 1931 babe put Myrtle, with her approval, into Rosemead Lodge Sanitarium, a drying-out facility. She was to make several 'excursions', wandering away to places she had formally known just to drink and reminisce with old friends. Following one of these 'disappearances' she moved in with her sister and was bound over to appear. She was placed on parole with provision that she enter a private sanitarium for rest. She returned quietly to Rosemead for a few weeks and then joined Babe at their new home in Beverly Hills.

In 1932 the Hardys visited Britain with Stan. (Stan's own marriage was on the rocks and his wife- Lois- did not accompany him). During the trip Stan and Babe were greeted with a fervour that shocked and surprised them both. They had had no idea of the adulation they inspired. Babe enjoyed the trip and was in fine form on returning to America. Unfortunately, life was not to get any better for the Hardys.

Shortly after their return Myrtle left the house and did not come home for three days. She was neatly dressed but with dark circles under her eyes and whisky on her breath. Babe did not say a word but looked at her expectantly. "What do you want me to say?" she said. Babe left the house and headed for his Lakeside golf club. He would spend his days at the club returning home at night. It is not difficult to imagine the building tension.

Early in 1933 Babe and Myrtle separated. This time he filed suit for divorce on the grounds of mental cruelty, stating that she had absented herself from their home, 'for several days at a time', had drunk liquor to excess and was plunging him in debt. Myrtle replied that he had lost $30,000 in one day at the track, had gambled away $3,000 at roulette, and on a daily average at Lakeside would lose over $100 betting on golf and cards. There was no mention of Viola though she was Babe's companion on his trips to the Mexican racetrack. The trip to Britain had merely interrupted their liaison. Babe moved to a hotel while Myrtle remained in the Beverly Hills home. Babe was then involved in an argument with Myrtle's sister, Mary. Mary brought suit against Babe for $50,000 claiming assault and battery. The suit was dropped a month later amongst newspaper rumours that both Stan and Ollie's domestic rifts had been smoothed over. There was to be a temporary reconciliation for the Hardys. The Los Angeles Times declared, 'Hardys Kiss and Make Up in Love Tiff'. Babe returned home and his lawyer, Ben Shipman, hoped for the best.

Benjamin W Shipman had the unenviable task of sorting out the domestic problems of both Stan and Babe. Speaking of them in 1966, he said: 'Such sweet men. But oh, the problems they could get into! Particularly Stan, but Babe too. And most of it was women trouble. I remember once, in Stan's chequered marital history, when it looked as if things couldn't get much more mixed up than they were, and I expressed my wonder at the very complexity of all this to Stan, he tried to soothe me by saying, "Ben don't worry. I know you'll work it out. Things are fine." I said to him, "If things are fine, how the hell do you explain why I'm so screwy?" That made him laugh, which is just why I said it. That was the blessing of being the lawyer for those two fine men. Somewhere, somehow, we always found time to laugh, and sometimes there was precious little to laugh about'.

In the summer of 1935 Babe again persuaded Myrtle to enter Rosemead. They were to successfully reunite once again, but the end was near. On a Sunday in July 1936 Myrtle wanted Babe to take her for a drive; he wanted to play golf. "He became very upset, (she testified at a temporary alimony hearing shortly after), so I took a little trip by myself." Myrtle disappeared for two weeks.

In her suit for maintenance Myrtle was to ask for $2,500 per month. She claimed she had proof that Babe, a year before, had entered a woman's apartment at 2.25 am, carrying bottles of liquor. Following the advice of her lawyer she claimed, 'extreme mental cruelty'. She said that she and her husband had separated and reconciled, 'eight or ten times', and that her husband's, 'grouchy and ugly attitude and demeanour' had given her a nervous breakdown and that he had 'fraudulently' caused her to be confined to a sanitarium against her will.

In reply Babe specified instances of her drinking, her drying out periods at Rosemead and her 'escapes' from there. He spoke of an exhaustive six-week search on an occasion when she had left home drunk with $35,000 on her person. Myrtle countered that on returning from one of her 'trips' away from home she was turned away by guards hired by Babe for that purpose. Babe admitted this.

While testifying on the stand, Babe broke down and began to weep. Myrtle, in the chair facing his, began to weep too. Eventually, the judge gave his decision. He allowed Myrtle separate maintenance but gave her $1,000 a month instead of $2,500. (As previously mentioned, it was shortly after this decision that Babe's first wife, Madelyn, appeared on the scene asking for back alimony).

The divorce case was uncomplicated. Myrtle was given a good property settlement, and the alimony was satisfactory to her. The pair even exchanged telegrams wishing each other well. Finally, the whole sorry, long-drawn episode was over. It was expected that Babe would go on to marry his long time 'companion', Viola Morse, but Babe was soon to have other plans.

LUCILLE

Babe may have had some idea of a future with Viola, but it was not to be. In 1939 he fell for Lucille Jones, the script clerk on the set of The Flying Deuces. Lucille was attractive, intelligent and humorous, Babe was showing his age and getting even fatter in the face; even so, he set out to win her.

Their first meeting was not auspicious. It was the first day of shooting and almost at once, they had a run -in. The master scene had been shot, and the camera had moved in for an individual shot of Babe. In the interval Babe had removed his hat and was not holding his gloves and cane as he had been doing in the previous scene. Responsible for continuity, Lucille pointed this out to Babe just before shooting began. She said: "In a very gentlemanly way and with an almost courtly gesture, he stopped me by saying, "I know how it was, my dear. Don't you worry. I'll take care of everything." I was so humiliated that I was speechless. My face turned red as a beet and I walked away thinking that somebody as pompous and conceited as that was just bound to mess everything up. But the minute the camera turned, I saw how wrong I was. He became the character he had been portraying. The dialogue, the mannerisms, every little gesture was flawless and matched the master scene perfectly.

Lucille took a while to get over her irritation, but Babe was smitten. He would attend writers' sessions just to see her, but kept his feelings to himself. She had no idea of his feelings for her, and for the moment there was no indication of them becoming a couple.

Lucille did such excellent work on The Flying Deuces that Stan asked Hal Roach to hire her for their next film, Saps at Sea. The shooting of Saps at Sea was interrupted to allow footage to be added to A Chump at Oxford. Shooting then resumed, and only as it was completed did Lucille first have an inkling of Babe's feelings for her.

Lucille fell heavily on set and suffered a minor but painful concussion. She was sent home and shortly afterwards received a box of chocolates and a large bouquet of roses - from Babe. She was pleased, but thought the gifts a bit unusual. Babe continued his role as nervous suitor. He developed the habit of coming into the script office and watching her type. Lucille would pass him the completed work, but Babe was not there for the script revisions.

One morning, Babe worked up the courage to propose; Lucille was literally left speechless. They had never had so much as a single date. Lucille let Babe talk for a while and then told him she had a lot of thinking to do. Back home she told her mother of the proposal, but her mother was not surprised. She told Lucille that in recent months she had always stressed Babe's doings more than anyone else's. Lucille had not been conscious of this but began to consider her feelings for Babe.

One morning, over coffee, he asked her if she had made up her mind. She replied, "Well, I guess I hadn't realised it. My mother told me I was more interested in you than I realised. Maybe it could work out." Babe quickly took this as a 'yes' and asked, "What kind of wedding do you want?" She replied, "Well, if we do get married - and I guess you'll think this is crazy - I want to elope. But I want to tell my mother and - take her with me." She was quite serious. This was a reply to shake the resolve of any man - but Babe was a rock, "I'm so thankful you don't want a big wedding," he said. An exchange worthy of any Laurel and Hardy domestic scene. Soon, the two were engaged and on New Year's Eve 1940 they enjoyed their first date.

Babe now had the unenviable task of telling Viola Morse that he had found the girl he wanted to marry - it did not go well. According to newspaper reports, she took thirteen sleeping pills, went out for a drive and crashed into three cars - one of them a police cruiser. It took a long time for Viola to recover from the rejection.

Babe and Lucille were married in Las Vegas on March 7th 1940, attended by 'one of the largest elopement contingents on record', as one newspaper described it. Babe was 48, Lucille 26. Shortly afterwards Babe bought a three-bedroom ranch home on Magnolia Avenue in North Hollywood. The newly-weds settled in comfortably.

By now Babe had become a great homebody. He had finally given up gambling even though he had started his own racing stable. His favourite horse, Manny, had been entered in a top race, a big and prestigious money affair. That day, Babe was detained at the studio and could not find anyone to place a bet on Manny for him. Once out of the studio and dying to get to the track he was held up in traffic, and maddeningly, got there just in time to hear that Manny had won and paid a big price. That was the end of Babe's love affair with racing. He sold his stable and retired his colours.

Ollie was ready for the quiet life, spending his time at home or the Lakeside club. The younger Lucille was not quite so ready to slow down but was content to do as he did. He was fond of bringing home card-playing buddies unannounced, for dinner, apologising to Lucille. She did not mind, and actually thrived on it. Her explanation for not getting upset was that, "They were all such good company."

The domestic life agreed with them both. They had a fruit orchard on their property and many of these fruits they bottled and Babe helped sterilise jars and tighten lids. Once in the midst of this extremely domestic chore he said, "Oh, you don't know how happy I am just to be doing this. It's the exact opposite of my life with Myrtle. With her it was stress, strain, stress, strain. Now here I am putting lids on a jar of tomatoes, and feeling just like a kid let out of school."

As for Stan, Babe and he did not mix much socially. They did try and share birthday celebrations together, usually in the form of barbecues at Stan's home, 'Fort Laurel'. Stan loved barbecues, "I'm used to them. I've been roasted enough by the women in my life!" Professionally, Stan and Ollie had finished with Hal Roach, but in 1941 they signed a contract to make a film with Fox. The painful events that followed are well known and did no favours for Laurel and Hardy. Babe would probably have packed it in but simply could not afford to stop working. In the period 1941 - 1944 the IRS was demanding $75,755 in addition to $100,000 interest. On top of this, Myrtle kept suing for money; her claims were always rejected by superior court but she kept on trying. The tax battle was to drag through the courts for ten years, placing an enormous strain on the Hardy's.

Lucille said, "It was a great tribute to our marriage that he was able to remain so comparatively tranquil in the midst of all that turmoil with taxes, Myrtle's lawsuits and the terrible movies they were making. Oh, he could get very upset at times! But generally, despite his hurt and anger at all these things, Babe was able to put most of his troubles to one side when he came home and closed that front door."

This marriage and home were a refuge for Babe. He was supremely happy in his home, and outside of a few personal friends he and Lucille invited over, he did not relish intrusion. There was to be travel abroad, but it seems that in his latter years home was the place to be. The downside was his deteriorating health. His weight continued to be a problem and his heart began to weaken.

By 1954 Lucille was going to great lengths to see that Babe rested and lost weight. Weight was always an issue with Babe and he had asked how Lucille could love a "…big, fat old slob like me?" Lucille scolded him saying that outside of the heart factor his weight was a matter of utter indifference to her. Babe had suffered from feelings of insecurity since childhood and would question his self worth. Lucille told him that his size had given him the opportunity to display his great talent as an actor, a talent that had brought so much joy. She believed that on hearing this he knew his life was a success.

Babe's health continued to deteriorate, culminating in a massive heart attack on September 15th 1956. He was left completely paralysed and unable to talk. After a month in hospital Lucille had him moved to her mother's house. She wanted to be with him during his lucid moments. It was explained to her that she would need nurses around the clock, and she arranged for them. Babe made enormous efforts to talk but could not. When Lucille knew he was trying to say something, she would put her face next to his and say, "I love you." He would say the same with his eyes.

The room was set up with the same pictures on the wall as from home; Lucille felt sure that he never knew he had been moved. There was a picture of the two of them. When troubled he would look at her picture and cry. The nurses knew the tears meant he wanted Lucille; they would get her. At times, seeing the frustration in his eyes, she sensed that he wished it was all over - this was January 1957.

Stan was recovering from illness himself but asked Lucille to tell him when Babe's mind was clearing a bit. Periodically, when she knew Babe was lucid, she would call Stan to say, "If you hurry up he will know you." Stan would come at once. The last time they were together, in the final irony of their lives, babe and Stan could only communicate in pantomime. Stan remembered Babe at one point 'saying' with eyes and slight body movement, "Look at me. Isn't this appalling?" Lucille and Stan's wife, Ida, who had been in the room, withdrew, leaving the two friends alone to share what was to be their final visit. Stan wept as Ida drove him home.

The evening of August 6th, 1957, Babe began to have a series of small strokes, convulsive in nature. His hands drew up in contractions, and when great spasms racked his body, Lucille got into his bed and held him tightly. She did this through the night. He died the morning of August 7th. Babe was cremated and his ashes interred in the Masonic section of the Garden of Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood.

His will left everything to Lucille. Even now, Myrtle persisted in back alimony claims. She drifted in and out of sanitariums and died in January 1983, aged eighty-six.

Lucille remarried in 1960, to Ben Price, a retired businessman. By 1970 The Sons of the Desert were flourishing in Los Angeles - 'Way Out West Tent'. Lucille and Ben became the top celebrity guests at their many meetings. These meetings became the Prices' chief recreation during 25 years of happy married life. Ben died in 1986, and Lucille the following year.

It is interesting to look over the marriages of Oliver Hardy, but it would be unwise to jump to conclusions on someone else's personal life on the basis of snippets of information. Perhaps it is best to leave the final say with Lucille, his wife of 17 years: "He always felt that women should always be treated with respect and that no matter what, a lady was a lady and should always be treated as such. He thought everyone should be polite to everybody else and there would be no more trouble in the world if people would just treat other people the way they would like to be treated…. He never considered himself a comedian, he thought he was a straight man for Stan and it always amazed him when anyone thought he was a comedian because he felt that he was just the big boob to make Stan look good. He was a very, very sensitive… a very sincere person. So I had a wonderful life with him.