Simon Louvish
Author of Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy: The Double Life of Laurel and Hardy
About the Author
Simon Louvish is a biographer of comedians and author of satirical and outrageous fiction. He is a film screenwriter and teaches film at the London Film School.
Image credit: Simon Louvish
Works by Simon Louvish
Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy: The Double Life of Laurel and Hardy (2001) 203 copies, 5 reviews
The Therapy of Avram Blok 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1947
- Gender
- male
- Education
- London School of Film Technique
- Occupations
- biographer
novelist - Organizations
- London Film School
- Short biography
- SIMON LOUVISH was born in Glasgow in 1947 and grew up in Israel. Later he decamped to the London School of Film Technique, where he became involved in the production of a series of independent documentary films. He also published a memoir of his Israeli days as well as a series of novels set mainly in the Middle East. Since 1979, he has also been teaching film at the London Film School and writing for various newspapers and magazines. Louvish is the author of definitive biographies of great clowns of screen comedy, including Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Story of W. C. Fields, Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers, and Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy. Further film biographies include Keystone: The Life and Clowns of Mack Sennet, Mae West: It Ain't No Sin, and Cecil B. DeMille: A Life in Art. [from us.macmillan.com]
- Birthplace
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
- Places of residence
- Israel
- Associated Place (for map)
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Members
Reviews
This well-researched overview of Laurel and Hardy's career suffers from the fact that neither Stan nor Ollie led remarkable or extravagant lives. Unlike Chaplin, Keaton or Arbuckle there is neither grandiosity, decline nor scandal to report – merely a lot of hard work. Laurel and Hardy's contribution twentieth century culture is enormous, so it is reassuring not to have it eroded by any off-screen failings; the 'Louella Parsons' side of their lives is addressed (and gossip is sometimes show more scotched) but not given undue importance. Louvish succeeds in collecting and evaluating the often unreliable accounts of events – whether inflated by studio publicity or misremembered by elderly moguls – and reducing them to what is verifiable as fact. He is less successful when he lets his own imagination fill in the gaps, such as his ex nihilo assertion that the young Hardy was a local outcast because of his weight. Apart from this small complaint (and the occasional unwelcome intrusion of 'theory'), Stan and Ollie gives a balanced account of a the career of the screen's greatest comedy team. show less
A detailed biography that tries to get to the truth of all the stories Fields told about his origins, and to the man behind the persona he created. Louvish had access to voluminous scrapbooks that Fields kept of all his appearances and to family papers, and he did exhaustive research in to archives at the Library of Congress and other places to seek out old scripts for vaudeville skits, studio correspondence, etc., etc. There are a lot of transcripts of routines (some reviewers didn’t like show more this, which I found puzzling – surely if you’re reading this, you like Fields and get a kick out of these.) There are great portraits of Eddie Cantor, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice, and others not well known today.
I hadn’t realized that Fields had such a long career as a juggler or that he’d traveled the world in that role for years before he became the comedian we recognize now. I liked it a lot and it was a perfect airplane and poolside book. The last part of Fields’ life wasn’t as well described as I would have liked but overall it was great. Apparently this was the go-to Fields biography for several years but now it’s been superseded by James Curtis’ W. C Fields. I’d like to read that one too. show less
I hadn’t realized that Fields had such a long career as a juggler or that he’d traveled the world in that role for years before he became the comedian we recognize now. I liked it a lot and it was a perfect airplane and poolside book. The last part of Fields’ life wasn’t as well described as I would have liked but overall it was great. Apparently this was the go-to Fields biography for several years but now it’s been superseded by James Curtis’ W. C Fields. I’d like to read that one too. show less
A comprehensive overview of the Marx Brothers that doesn't forget what Gummo and Zeppo brought to the show.
The pursuit of the truth is a goal of this book, but the author is honest that you can't always know. When he can't sort it out, he presents different stories, from different people's memories, and lets the reader sort it out.
It seems you get the warts-and-all look at the brothers, and it's not all attractive.
For example, Groucho is largely blamed for his wives' alcoholism, saying that show more was their only respite from his verbal abuse. This is at odds with another book on Groucho that I've read, and reviewed, called Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx. Which is the truth? I don't know.
Ultimately, what we should take away from the Marx Brothers is the terrific films - and the not-so-good ones, too - that are their legacy and gift.
Read more of my reviews on Ralphsbooks. show less
The pursuit of the truth is a goal of this book, but the author is honest that you can't always know. When he can't sort it out, he presents different stories, from different people's memories, and lets the reader sort it out.
It seems you get the warts-and-all look at the brothers, and it's not all attractive.
For example, Groucho is largely blamed for his wives' alcoholism, saying that show more was their only respite from his verbal abuse. This is at odds with another book on Groucho that I've read, and reviewed, called Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx. Which is the truth? I don't know.
Ultimately, what we should take away from the Marx Brothers is the terrific films - and the not-so-good ones, too - that are their legacy and gift.
Read more of my reviews on Ralphsbooks. show less
I've read a number of biographies and filmographies of my favorite comedy team, Laurel and Hardy, by now (even named my two cats Stan and Ollie). My memory may be faulty, but it seems to me that this writer has gone to extra lengths to add to the body of knowledge about the boys, or unearthed the truths behind some of the long-accepted stories about them. In particular, there are a number of Hal Roach's (their long-time producer and director) self-serving oral memories from late in his own show more life that are debunked here.
Through it all, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy remain two genuinely decent gentlemen who liked and respected each other, enjoyed their work, and saw what they did as craft rather than art. But the author also reviews each of their numerous films and makes it clear that, in his opinion (and mine), some are masterworks of comic art. There are some pictures here, but it's never enough to suit me.
The author includes one of my favorite stories about Stan, which may be apocryphal, but I find it believable, on his deathbed:
To the nurse who was preparing an injection: "I'd much rather be skiing than doing this."
The nurse: "Oh, Mr. Laurel, do you ski?"
Stan: "No, but I'd much sooner be skiing than what I'm doing now." show less
Through it all, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy remain two genuinely decent gentlemen who liked and respected each other, enjoyed their work, and saw what they did as craft rather than art. But the author also reviews each of their numerous films and makes it clear that, in his opinion (and mine), some are masterworks of comic art. There are some pictures here, but it's never enough to suit me.
The author includes one of my favorite stories about Stan, which may be apocryphal, but I find it believable, on his deathbed:
To the nurse who was preparing an injection: "I'd much rather be skiing than doing this."
The nurse: "Oh, Mr. Laurel, do you ski?"
Stan: "No, but I'd much sooner be skiing than what I'm doing now." show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 22
- Members
- 901
- Popularity
- #28,453
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 12
- ISBNs
- 69
- Languages
- 3