Birth : 14 January 1892
Died : 2 November 1992
Nationality :
Comment
Over his career Hal Roach directed and produced about 2000 films, mostly comedies from 1914 to the 1960's. He early met up with Harold Lloyd and with some investment starts the Roland FIlm Company in 1914. His early films were made with Harold Lloyd but then Harold Lloyd spit with him to create his own company. a He is also known for his series of short films Our Gang about a group of children which were made between 1922 and 1944. He then worked with Snub Pollard and then paired Laurel and Hardy together. It had plenty of slapstick and also the Hardy look to the camera when things went wrong. He embraced sound and then introduced women (Thelma Todd and Zasu Pitts) into their films. In the 1930's and 1940's he made feature films and second features after Laurel and Hardy left and the film market changed. He married and served during World War 2. After 1948 Hal Roach moved into television production when the film side of the business was not making money and this revived the company. He passeses the studio over to his sun, but he brings backruptcy and demolition of the studio.
Director
One Million BC (1940)
Pajama Party (1931) Short
Haunted Spooks (1920) Silent
Get Out And Get Under (1920) Silent
An Eastern Westerner (1920) Silent
Sammy In Siberia (1919) Silent
Bumping Into Broadway (1919) Silent
Ask Father (1919) Silent
Producer
Flying With Music (1942)
Topper Returns (1941)
Saps At Sea (1940)
One Million BC (1940)
Chump At Oxford (1939)
Block-Heads (1938)
The Bohemian Girl (1936)
Tit For Tat (1935) Short
Sons Of The Desert (1933)
Beauty And The Bus (1933) Short
Backs To Nature (1933) Short
Pajama Party (1931) Short
Laughing Gravy (1930)
Big Business (1929) Silent
From Soup To Nuts (1928) Silent
Sailors Beware! (1927) Silent
Safety Last (1923) Silent
Why Worry? (1923) Silent
Dr Jack (1922) Silent
Ask Father (1919) Silent
Bumping Into Broadway (1919) Silent
From Hand To Mouth (1919) Silent
Ring Up The Curtain (1919) Silent
Oscars
Won - Honory Award - 1984
Won - Best Short - Bored Of Education (1932)
Nomination - Best Short - Tit For Tat (1935)
Won - Best Short - The Music Box (1932)