Passages about Arthur Jefferson (Stan's father) and Stan Laurel taken from
Laurel and Hardy Central by John Larrabee
Pickard's Panopticon in Glasgow, Scotland was a quaint and unique house of entertainment, even for 1906. Within its walls, one could find a museum, a side show, a nickelodeon (or "penny-winders," as they were known in Scotland), and a small room that served as an excuse for a theatre. With no seats, patrons stood to watch a brief program of second and third-rate music-hall style entertainment, while a three-piece women's band pounded out musical accompaniment. It was in these auspicious surroundings that 16-year-old Arthur Stanley Jefferson made his performing debut. As he bounded onstage with the naive confidence that comes from youthful exuberance, his heart sank as he looked to the wings and glimpsed the unexpected and shadowy presence of his father, A.J. Jefferson. Though close as a father and son could be, young Stanley was not ready to be subjected to his father's critical eye. After all, the senior Jefferson was one of the most succesful men of the theatre in all of Great Britain (as a theatre-owner, producer, director, writer, and comedic performer), while Stan could boast only a rough, unpolished act of borrowed jokes and derivative routines. Nevertheless, the boy went gamely on with his act, slow and faltering at first, but firmly convinced he had wowed them with a big finish when he exited to hearty applause. "I didn't realize that this was because the audience felt sorry for me. I figured that out for myself later on," said Stan in later years.
Returning home that night, Stan nervously approached his father's study, prepared for the worst. Rather than berate the boy for bringing shame upon the family name, however, a sympathetic A.J. offered the boy a whiskey and soda and engaged him in a long conversation about a career in performing. "As long as your you're sure it's what you want, Stan. As long as you're really sure," he said.
A.J. Jefferson was probably relieved that his son had finally shown an interest in something. As the theatrical Jefferson family moved from town to town during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Stan had been a miserable failure at one boarding school after another. Though schooling interested him little, he was nevertheless a great favorite with his teachers due to his ability to make them laugh. He was a polite and pleasant kid who didn't cause trouble, but neither did he expend any effort towards scholarship. When he dropped out of school for good at the age of fifteen, his father put him to work in the theatre box office, where his skills in accounting were about on par with his skills as a student. The fact that the boy now had a definite goal in life earned him the support of his father, and served as a source of bonding between them.
The Jefferson family had always been close-knit, regardless of the fact that its members were rarely under the same roof at one time. One of four siblings (three boys, one girl), Arthur Stanley was born on June 16, 1890 in Ulvertson, Lancashire, England. Both parents were important names in the world of English theatre and music-hall (his mother was a prominent stage actress), which insured that Stanley recieved in-house training in his chosen vocation from the day he was born. His father seems to have struck just the right blend between strictness and indulgence, and rarely had to raise his voice in the household. Stan, in turn, loved his father greatly and often brought him to America for year-long visits during Stan's years of success in Hollywood. Despite the fact that it took several failed attempts before Stan found happiness in marriage, the family was an institution which he treasured.
1926
