Laurel and Hardy

British  

/ ˈhɑːdɪ, ˈlɒrəl /

noun

1. a team of US film comedians, Stan Laurel, 1890–1965, born in Britain, the thin one, and his partner, Oliver Hardy, 1892–1957, the fat one

---

Laurel and Hardy Cultural  

1. Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy, two twentieth-century film comedians who almost always played their movie roles under their own names. Wearing derby hats and neckties, Laurel appeared as a thin, dim-witted Englishman and Hardy as an overweight American, often irritable and pompous. In their films, they constantly get in each other's way and are usually involved in hopeless business undertakings or doomed personal adventures.

---

Example Sentences

There’s a special, frictional magic to creative teamwork — Laurel and Hardy, Nichols and May, Powell and Pressburger, Rankin and Bass — amplified when the teammates are linked by blood.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Popcorn and movies—as intertwined as Laurel and Hardy, Fred and Ginger, Butch and Sundance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

The Scottish actor performed in more than 100 films but was best known for being the "third man" to Laurel and Hardy.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2025

Martin grew up in Orange County in awe of Jerry Lewis, Laurel and Hardy and Nichols and May.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 26, 2024

The television was on; Laurel and Hardy, obscured by a blizzard of electronic snow, were trying to move a grand piano up a great many flights of stairs.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt