After the "This Is Your Life" broadcast of 1954, there was a plan for the boys to make colour TV films for Hal Roach Junior in their old Hal Roach Studio. But before shooting began, Oliver had 2 heart attacks and Stan suffered from a stroke (April 25, 1955). Luckily, he survived it, but the planned shootings were cancelled. In the meantime, Oliver's doctors advised him to lose a lot of weight because of his heart trouble. He took the advice to heart, and went on a diet. 

In 1955, Laurel & Hardy made what would turn out to be their last joint appearance. It was for a BBC programme about the Grand Order of Water Rats, and was titled "This is Music Hall". Stan & Ollie provide a filmed insert during which they reminisce about their friends in British variety. They conclude with thanks and a fond goodbye to their fans. Certainly the most appropriate farewell appearance they could have made!

In this little scene, we can see that Oliver already has lost a lot of weight compared to the 1954 "This Is Your Life" broadcast. He looks healthier than he had looked in years. However, he kept losing weight and eventually became a shadow of his normal self, losing about 154 pounds (70 kg). Eventually, he weighed less than what he had weighed during the rest of his adult life! You can see how he looked on the photo below, which was taken at Stan's home on July 20, 1956. Looking at this photo, you cannot help wondering: "Which one was the fat one again?"

Click on the photo to see a larger version

When Stan had recovered sufficiently to start working again, it was Oliver who suffered from a stroke (September 12, 1956). He, however, did not recover as well as Stan had: the stroke left him partially paralyzed and deprived him of his power of speech . It was clear that he would not recover. His wife Lucille lovingly nursed him at home, and Stan frequently visited. At these visits, neither of the two comedians spoke, but they would communicate by using sign-language. Oliver died on August 7, 1957, at the age of 65, following a series of strokes. Stan was devastated, and never appeared again on stage or in a film. He spent his old days writing letters to fans and telling visitors about the good old time. However, he did do some interviews, like the radio interview from 1959, now entitled "The Life and Times of Stan Laurel". Here you can listen to a little excerpt from this interview.

Although Stan never appeared again in any film, he did own an 8 mm camera. Below are 4 screenshots from a colour home movie of Stan, shot in his Santa Monica apartment at the Oceana Apartment Hotel in 1961. It shows him fooling around with the Academy Award he received in 1960 on behalf of himself and his late partner.

         On the above photos, you can clearly see that Stan had blue eyes. His originally red hair has turned grey.

I have found lots of examples of letters written by Stan on the Internet. I have included a couple of them for your reading pleasure.

One of Stan's many correspondents was a young boy named Gary Arnold. He now has a site on which he sells some of the letters Stan wrote to him. You can view his site by clicking here.

Stan was hospitalized in 1964 because he had diabetes. After having suffered another stroke, he died at home on February 23, 1965, at the age of 74, due to heart weakness. Just before he died, he told a nurse: "I wish I was skiing now." "Do you ski, Mr. Laurel?" the nurse asked. "No, but I'd rather be doing it anyway" he replied. Those were his last words.

Both Stan and Oliver were cremated. Oliver was buried at the Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, California. Stan's final resting place is the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California.

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