Laurel and Hardy Helpmates Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Finlayson

Like Stan, the great Jimmy Finlayson arrived as a Hollywood hopeful, after abandoning a touring British music hall skit in 1916. Although he started as one of the original Keystone Kops, he is now remembered fondly for the 33 appearances he made with L&H, perhaps the pinnacle coming in "Big Business", as he and the boys take turns to deliberately destroy a house and a car.

As evidenced from photos of the period, he suprisingly only appeared with a mustache in the movies, not in real life.

Answer: Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd appeared in L&H's simple two-reelers like "Another Fine Mess" as well as their more complex operetta-style movies, including "The Bohemian Girl". It was while making the latter that she supposedly committed suicide at the age of only 30. She was found in her parked car poisoned by carbon monoxide.

The death was suspiciously connected to the mob but was never satisfactorily solved.

Answer: Edgar Kennedy

Although Kennedy, like Jimmy Finlayson, began his career as an early frantic Keystone Kop, his signature 'slow burn' featured a steady build-up in response to irritation, finally exploding into a spluttering, hair-tugging volcano. He appeared with L&H as a figure of authority (e.g. a policeman, in "Leave 'Em Laughing"), as a harrassed neighbor, and even as a family member ("The Perfect Day"), but always as the recipient of some disaster.

Answer: Charley Rogers

Charley Rogers worked with the boys from 1928 to 1943, pretty much the entire length of the L&H team's film career, and directed the classic film pair "Them Thar Hills" and "Tit For Tat".

Answer: Jean Harlow

Another actress who died tragically young (in her case aged only 26), Harlean Carpenter (Jean Harlow's real name) went into movies in 1926 only to please her mother. Her L&H career spanned only three movies, her last ("Bacon Grabbers") being as the wife (if you can believe it) of Edgar Kennedy.

Answer: Walter Long

Walter Long was, by all accounts, a much nicer man than his violent L&H characters suggest - as gangster Butch in "Going Bye-Bye", he ends up tying the boys' legs around their necks !

Answer: Mae Busch

Mae Busch was carving out a successful career as a serious actress in early Hollywood when she suffered a nervous breakdown in the 20s and was eagerly snapped up by the Hal Roach studio. Like several of L&H's leading ladies, however, she died young, being only in her forties.

Answer: Charlie Hall

Charlie Hall, like Stan, began in the classic British music hall comedy troop run by Fred Karno (which also, incidentally, begat Chaplin). Frequently playing a feisty rival to the boys ("The Live Ghost", "Busy Bodies", Them Thar Hills"), his nickname was 'The Little Nemesis'.

Answer: Anita Garvin

Anita Garvin was a regular in L&H shorts, but sadly only appeared very briefly in two of their features, "Swiss Miss" and "A Chump At Oxford". She lived until the mid-1990s and has therefore been a major source of recent knowledge about their movies.

Answer: Harry Langdon

While Langdon was one of the silent movies' biggest stars after Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd, his career took a nosedive when his inflated ego caused him to break with his long-time director (and arguably the power behind his fame) the young Frank Capra.

When Hal Roach was having continuing trouble agreeing to a contract with Stan, he made the decision that a new Langdon-Hardy team was needed. Audience response did not agree with him.