About
Hello! We're Holly and Matthew, and we're both very big fans of Hal Roach Studios and the talented bunch who worked there. Upon doing some 'out-of-interest' digging, we ended up uncovering some pretty fascinating stuff about the lives and careers of several of our favourite Roach writers before and beyond their time at Hal Roach Studios- most of which we'd never seen published anywhere else.
This website will be serving as a research blog, where we will be delving into our discoveries regarding the lives and careers of these fascinating folk, as well as a place where we discuss and share other fun Hal Roach Studios tidbits and trivia.
About Hal Roach Studios
Many of the most famous and influential comedy films in history were produced by the studio, for instance many of the Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, and Harold Lloyd comedies, to name a few.
Whilst the studio itself is long gone, its films remain very much alive in public, cinematic, and comedic memory, and have continued to influence comedy and film-making ever since.
About the Writers
Many of the staff at Hal Roach Studios had had prior careers in film, British music hall, and American vaudeville, or had worked on Broadway or the West End. The writing staff were no exception to this, and some may even arguably have had more prolific and impressive pre-Roach careers than many of the bigger Roach stars and names.
Naturally, the careers of some of these writers are more well-known than others (for instance Harry Langdon - who, prior to his work writing for Laurel and Hardy, had been one of the most widely renowned of the silent-era comics) but several of these careers appear to have been long lost and forgotten to time.
The same can be said for several of the writers' post-Roach careers, as many went on to independently continue on their own successful, yet seldom discussed, film, television, and radio writing careers.
We hope that as a result of our research, several 'blanks' in the biographies of these incredibly talented people can be filled in, and that their careers outside of work at Hal Roach Studios can again be appreciated and remembered.
About Us
HOLLY
My prior comedy research includes my involvement with the University of Kent’s Beyond the Binary archival research project, and my undergraduate dissertation on the influence of Laurel and Hardy's approach to slapstick throughout sitcom history.
My love for Hal Roach studios stems from growing up watching Laurel and Hardy and Harold Lloyd films with my family. My favourite film from the studio is Babes In Toyland, and my favourite Roach writer is Charles Rogers - and it’s the subsequent digging Matthew and I did into his life and career that inspired us to start this blog in the first place!
Greetings! I’m a history buff and both a fan and researcher of classic comedy, having discovered many black-and-white classics during my teens.
My entrance into this world of cinema came through discovering the Our Gang comedies (a.k.a. The Little Rascals) at age 8, which then led to learning about such greats as Laurel & Hardy, Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, and even Wheeler and Woolsey.
My previous research work includes the Facebook page Little Rascals History, as well as contributing to Our Gang’s big 100th anniversary event at the Hollywood Museum.
Having heard tales about the infamously warm atmosphere of the Hal Roach lot made me want to explore more of the studio’s history. I’ve also expressed a keen interest in Roach scripts, especially when they reveal material that was never used. Those scripts act as a time machine and give us a peek into the sort of creative process the staff employed.
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