Laurel and Hardy were an American-based comedy duo who became famous during the early half of the 20th century for their work in motion pictures.

The members of the duo were the thin British-born and-reared Stan Laurel and his heavier American partner from the state of Georgia, Oliver Hardy.

The pair are considered among the most famous and finest double acts in cinema history. Each brought talents from his solo career to the team.

The two comedians briefly worked together in 1921. After a period appearing separately in several short films for the Hal Roach studio during the 1920s, they began appearing in movie shorts together in 1926, and Laurel and Hardy officially became a team in 1927.

Between 1927 and 1940, they starred in sixty-two shorts and thirteen feature films (discounting numerous cameo roles in others' films), becoming Hal Roach's most famous and lucrative stars.

Among their most popular and successful films were the features Sons of the Desert (1933), Way Out West (1937), and Block-Heads (1938); and the shorts Hog Wild (1930), Helpmates (1932), and their Academy Award-winning short, The Music Box (1932).

The pair left the Roach studio in 1940, then appeared in eight low-budget comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer until 1944, when they retired from films to concentrate on their stage show. They made their last film, Atoll K, in France in 1950 and 1951 before retiring from the screen.

From wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_and_hardy