Hal Roach was born in 1892 in Elmira, New York. After working as a mule skinner, wrangler and gold prospector, among other things, he wound up in Hollywood and began picking up jobs as an extra in comedies, where he met comedian 哈罗德·劳埃德 in 1913 in San Diego. By all accounts, including his own, he was a terrible actor, but he saw a future in the movie business and in Harold Lloyd. Roach came into a small inheritance and began producing, directing and writing a series of short film comedies, under the banner of Phun Philms (soon changed to Rolin, which lasted until 1922), starring Lloyd in early 1915. Initially these were abysmal, but with tremendous effort, the quality improved enough to be nominally financed and distributed by Pathe, which purchased Roach's product by the exposed foot of film. The Roach/Lloyd team morphed through two characters. The first, nominally tagged as "Will E. Work", proved hopeless; the second, "Lonesome Luke," an unabashed imitation of 查理·卓别林, proved more successful with each new release. Lloyd's increasing dissatisfaction with the Chaplin clone character irritated Roach to no end, and the two men engaged in a series of battles, walkouts and reconciliations. Ultimately Lloyd abandoned the character completely in 1917, creating his now-famous "Glasses" character, which met with even greater box-office success, much to the relief of Roach and Pathe. This new character hit a nerve with the post-war public as both the antithesis and complement to Chaplin, capturing the can-do optimism of the age. This enabled Roach to renegotiate the deal with Pathe and start his own production company, putting his little studio on a firm financial foundation. Hal Roach Productions became a unique entity in Hollywood. It operated as a sort of paternalistic boutique studio, releasing a surprising number of wildly popular shorts series and a handful of features. Quality was seldom compromised and his employees were treated as his most valuable asset.
Roach's relationship with his biggest earner was increasingly acrimonious after 1920 (among other things, Lloyd would bristle at Roach's demands to appear at the studio daily regardless of his production schedule). After achieving enormous success with features (interestingly, his only real feature flop of the 1930s was with 史班奇将军 (1936), a very poorly conceived vehicle for the property), Lloyd had achieved superstar status by the standards of "The Roaring Twenties" and wanted his independence. The two men severed ties, with Roach retaining re-issue rights for Lloyd's shorts for the remainder of the decade. While both men built their careers together, it was Lloyd who first recognized his need for creative freedom, no longer needing Roach's financial support. This realization irked Roach, and from this point forward he found it difficult, if not impossible, to offer unadulterated praise for his former friend and star (while Lloyd himself was far more generous in his later praise of Roach, he, too, could be critical, if more accurate, in his recollections). Lloyd went on to much greater financial success at Paramount.
Despite facing the prospect of losing his biggest earner, Roach was already preoccupied with building his kiddie comedy series, Our Gang, which became an immediate hit with the public. By the time he turned 25 in 1917, Roach was wealthy and increasingly spending time away from his studio. He traveled extensively across Europe. By the early 1920s he had eclipsed 马克·森内特 as the "King of Comedy" and created many of the most memorable comic series of all time. These included the team of 斯坦·劳莱 and 奥列佛·哈台, 查利·蔡斯, 埃德加·肯尼迪, 'Snub' Pollard and especially the long-running Our Gang series (AKA "The Little Rascals" in TV distribution). Pathe, which distributed his films, shut down its U.S. operations after its domestic representative, Paul Brunet, returned to France in 1927. But Roach was able to secure an even better deal with MGM (his key competitor, Mack Sennett, was also distributed by Pathe, but he was unable to land a deal, ultimately declaring bankruptcy in 1933). For the next eleven years Roach shored up MGM's bottom line, although the deal was probably more beneficial to Roach. In the mid-'30s Roach became inexplicably enamored of 'Benito Mussolini', and sought to secure a business alliance with the fascist dictator's recently completed film complex, Cinecitta. After Roach asked for (and received) assurances from Mussolini that Italy wasn't about to seek sanctions against the Jews, the two men formed RAM ("Roach And Mussolini") Productions, a move that appalled the powers at MGM parent company, Leow's Inc. These events coincided with Roach selling off "Our Gang" to MGM and committing himself solely to feature film production. In September 1937, Il Duce's son, Vittorio Mussolini, visited Hollywood and Roach's studio threw a lavish party celebrating his 21st birthday. Soon afterward the Italian government took on an increasingly anti-Semitic stance and, in retribution, Leow's chairman Nicholas Schenck canceled his distribution deal. Roach signed an adequate deal with United Artists in May 1938 and redeemed his previous record of feature misfires with a string of big hits: 逍遥鬼侣 (1937) (and its lesser sequels), the prestigious 人鼠之间 (1939) and, most significantly, One Million B.C. (1940), which became the most profitable movie of the year. Despite the nearly unanimous condemnation by his industry peers, Roach stubbornly refused to re-examine his attitudes over his dealings with Mussolini, even in the aftermath of World War II (he proudly displayed an autographed portrait of the dictator in his home up until his death). His tried-and-true formula for success was tested by audience demands for longer feature-length productions, and by the early 1940s he was forced to try his hand at making low-budget, full-length screwball comedies, musicals and dramas, although he still kept turning out extended two-reel-plus comedies, which he tagged as "streamliners"; they failed to catch on with post-war audiences. By the 1950s he was producing mainly for television (My Little Margie (1952), Blondie (1957) and The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1956), for example). His willingness to delve into TV production flew in the face of most of the major Hollywood studios of the day. He made a stab at retirement but his son, Hal Roach Jr., proved an inept businessman and drove the studio to the brink of bankruptcy by 1959. Roach returned and focused on facilities leasing and managing the TV rights of his film catalog.
In 1983 his company developed the first successful digital colorization process. Roach then became a producer for many TV series on the Disney Channel, and his company still produces most of their films and videos. He died peacefully just shy of his 101st birthday, telling stories right up until the end.
Played saxophone.
He had frequently told the story of sitting in his office in 1921 and watching some kids playing in a nearby lot. The kids were playfully arguing over a stick as if were the most important thing in the world. He realized that he had been fascinated over their antics and was amazed to realize he'd failed how much time had passed watching these kids at play. The led to the idea for the "Our Gang" comedies, which became--after 哈罗德·劳埃德 (who'd soon leave for independent production)--Roach's most profitable property, and, with innumerable cast changes, the longest running short series in Hollywood history (sold to MGM in 1937 and continuing through 1944).
Father of Margaret Roach
Grandfather of Addison Randall
Developed appendicitis during the filming of 老瑞和哈迪之小兵进行曲 (1934).
His films were initially distributed by Pathe Exchange, the US branch of the French firm Pathe Freres. Ironically, this was the same distributor his arch-rival 马克·森内特 used. When the French firm imploded in the mid-'20s, Sennett's fate was sealed while Roach's boutique studio retained enough clout with its "Our Gang" franchise (among others) to secure a lucrative deal with MGM, despite his break with 哈罗德·劳埃德.
Ex father-in-law of Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter, who married and later divorced Hal's daughter Maria Roach.
Most of the big stars on the Roach lot, including 斯坦·劳莱, 奥列佛·哈台 and 查利·蔡斯, used their own names in their pictures. Many of the supporting players did the same. According to Stan Laurel, they couldn't be replaced by other, less expensive actors this way.
Started his film career as a stuntman and actor, playing heavies in J. Warren Kerrigan westerns.
He idolized 马克·吐温, whom he met as a boy.
On January 23, 1992 the Smithsonian bestowed the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in Washington, D.C.
Founder of Hal Roach Studios, active from 1914 to 1959.
When Hal Roach died at the age of 100, he had outlived many of the children who starred in his "Our Gang" films of the 1920s and 30s.
From its inception as the Rollin Film Company in 1914, 哈尔·罗奇 Studios was originally based on Hill Street in the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles, California. In 1919, when zoning rules prevented Roach from expanding his downtown property, he purchased 10 acres in Culver City (at $1000 an acre) and built a new studio from scratch. Roach claimed the success of his early films with 哈罗德·劳埃德 enabled him to finance this move. The Roach lot eventually grew to 17 acres and included 52 buildings and 7 sound stages, back lot and technical facilities, a laboratory for processing film, and a commissary (The "Our Gang" Café) that was open to the public. Hal Roach Studios ceased production in 1959 and the lot was demolished in 1963. A pocket park on Washington Boulevard, where the "Our Gang" Café once stood, was dedicated in 1980 to commemorate the site. with a commemorative plaque being the only indication of the site's illustrious past.The 88-year-old Roach attended the ceremony.
Made long running film series around Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, Charley Chase, Will Rogers, Thelma Todd, Harry Langdon and most famously Laurel & Hardy,.
His Laurel and Hardy short The Music Box won the first ever Academy Award for Best Comedy Short but at the time Oscar statuettes weren't presented for this category instead a Certificate was presented. Later Hal gave this to Stan Laurel.
With the success of Laurel and Hardy. in 1927 Hal hoped to succeed with a female team and paired Anita Garvin with Marion 'Peanut' Byron in three 2 reel comedies. With the advent of sound he re thought the team and paired Zasu Pitts with Thelma Todd for 16 short comedies between 1931 and 33. Zasu left after the 32/33 season and was replaced by Patsy Kelly. Late in the 3rd year Thelma died and was replaced with Pert Kelton for one film then with Lyda Roberti for the final two films of the contract after which the series ended.