Oliver Hardy, born Norvell Hardy on January 18, 1892, was the other half of the famous comedy team of Laurel and Hardy. He was born in Harlem, Georgia to Emily and Oliver Hardy. Sadly the elder Oliver Hardy would pass away a year after Norvell's death.
Oliver Hardy was a singer from childhood singing in vaudeville theaters, getting some formal education in music but he always wanted to be practicing the craft rather than learning about music.
After a brief job with a new cinema as a projectionist he decided that he wanted to be an actor. Soon Oliver found himself at the Lubin film studio where he made his first movie "Outwitting Dad" for Lubin Studios was where he took his father's name. His friends knew him as Babe. Over the years he worked for many studios like Edison and Pathe in New York then found his way to Los Angeles. That was where he appeared in the 1917 movie Lucky Dog starring Stan Laurel. The duo didn't appear in any movies again until 1927 at Hal Roach Studios.
Many movies later they established themselves as a respectable comedic force. They won their first Academy Award in 1932 with The Music Box. Oliver Hardy also appeared in other films, without Stan, appearing in The Fighting Kentuckian with John Wayne. He also had a cameo role in Riding High with Bing Crosby.
Mr. Hardy was quite the ladies man. Over the course of his career he was married three times, first to Madelyn Saloshin in 1913 followed by Myrtle Reeves in 1921 then Lucille Jones in 1940 which was his happiest and final marriage.
In 1955 he suffered a heart attack followed by a stroke. Oliver never recovered from them. He died on August 7, 1957 after many more strokes. You can visit his final resting place at Valhalla Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.