Faithful unto death

Novel reimagines Stan Laurel and his beloved partner

Although never referred to by name, the he of the eponymous “he” is comedian Stan Laurel, who with Oliver Hardy was half of Laurel and Hardy, one of the most beloved comic teams in the early 20th century.

With only the pronouns of he or him, author John Connolly reimagines Laurel in both abstract and three-dimensional ways, getting to the soul of Laurel, the comic, the alcoholic, the multi-married, the forever-indebt with alimony.

It has no plot and is written as a memoir and with a streamof-consciousness approach with short chapters, some only a couple of paragraphs long, as Connolly looks at Laurel’s life and career, showing the man’s flaws and foibles. It also is a story of Old Hollywood when the medium of movies was just gearing up, a story of gossip, of myth and of what makes a legend.

The story is graceful and maintains its lyrical look at the comic, despite being a bit too long.

It alternates between Laurel’s last days in a Santa Monica, Calif., apartment to his career that began around 1906 when the 16-year-old made his first appearance at a London music hall. Those early years were tough, with long hours and little pay.

Laurel met Charlie Chaplin, who long before he became a Hollywood star showed his genius, inspiring awe and jealousy among his fellow comics. “Chaplin is different, touched by a god, but which god? There is discipline in Chaplin’s anarchy.”

Travelling on the same ship as Chaplin, Laurel finds the U.S. a series of cold flats and performances in sleazy theatres on the vaudeville circuit, until he stumbles into the burgeoning movie industry.

Laurel and Hardy both had careers in Hollywood before their accidental partnership. The Laurel and Hardy team made more than 100 movies featuring their slapstick comedy from the late 1920s to the mid-’40s. The two men were genuinely fond of each other. After Hardy died, Laurel never performed again.

Connolly’s meticulous research touches on unfair contract negotiations, how sound changed the business and the treatment of actors and especially young actresses as disposable commodities.