1936 Letters
NO LETTERHEAD - HANDWRITTEN EXCERPT
Dec.24th.'36.
Dear Ruth [Laurel],
I don't think I could ever love again like I loved Lois. She killed all my illusions. I tried to get over it, but I can't. I am unhappy even after all you've done to try to make me happy, so why chase rainbows.
DIVORCE AGREEMENT - TYPEWRITTEN EXCERPT
A G R E E M E N T
THIS AGREEMENT made and entered into this 24th day of December, 1936, by and between VIRGINIA RUTH LAUREL, hereinafter referred to as First Party, and STAN LAUREL, hereinafter referred to as Second Party, both of said parties being residents of the County of Los Angeles, State of California.
W I T N E S S E T H :
That the parties hereto entered into a ceremonial marriage on the 23rd. day of September, 1935, at Florence, Arizona, pursuant to the laws thereof, and ever since said time and until their separation have lived together as man and wife in the State of California and said marriage has never been dissolved or annulled.
That both of the parties hereto since September 1st., 1936, have been, and now are, living separate and apart, and that an action for Separate Maintenance and a Cross-Complaint for Divorce is pending in the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles, entitled Virginia Ruth Laurel, Plaintiff and Cross-Defendant, vs., Stan Laurel, Defendant and Cross-Plaintiff, being Number D-149019; and that the parties hereto are desirous of effecting a complete and final settlement of their property rights; and that it is the desire and Intention of the parties hereto that their relation with respect to property and financial matters be settled and finally established by this Agreement in order to settle and determine once and for all time the present and future property rights, community or otherwise, support and maintenance of the First Party, and all claims and demands of a pecuniary nature between the parties hereto in such manner that any action with respect to the rights and obligations of either toward the other that may now exist or that may or can or should arise shall be finally and conclusively settled and determined, and expressly agrees that this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect In the event that their respective differences can be adjusted and a reconciliation effected, whether permanent or otherwise, and that no subsequent cohabitation, condonation or reconciliation shall alter or effect the terms or conditions of this Agreement unless such intent is expressed in writing signed by both of the parties hereto, and further agree that this Agreement shall fully supplant, change, alter and revoke any and all prior agreements heretofore made between the parties hereto.
That the parties hereto expressly ratify and confirm that certain division of property which has taken place prior to the date of separation of said parties and by the terms of which the First Party was vested with the title to the real estate and dwelling house of the parties hereto located at 10353 Glenbar Avenue, in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, and certain other property, described as follows:
Lots Five (5) and Six (6), Block Three (3), Tract 7264, as per map recorded in book 98, Pages 63 to 76 of Maps, Records of Los Angeles County:
TOGETHER with the title to a 1936 Packard Sedan, Engine No. ______, and a 1934 Ford Coupe, Engine No. 1150855;
TOGETHER with a certain annuity insurance policy No. 306616, with the New York Life Insurance Company, providing for payments of $172.00 per month during the life of said FIRST PARTY;
TOGETHER with the furniture, household effects, jewelry, wearing apparel and personal effects of said First Party;
TOGETHER with all bank accounts standing in the name of First Party amounting to the sum of $17,000.00, as disclosed in Court proceedings in the action heretofore mentioned;
TOGETHER with Lot 41, Tract 6518, as per map recorded in Book 83, Pages 97-98 of Maps, Records of Los Angeles County; all of said property being in the possession of First Party and recognized as being free and clear of any and all claims of the Second Party, his heirs, administrators, executors or assigns.
Likewise, there was transferred and confirmed to the Second Party, a certain cruiser yacht known as the "Ruth L", and two certain policies of insurance with the New York Life Insurance Company, one being an annuity paying the sum of $217.00 per month at this time and being No. 57400, and the other policy being No. 10158, upon which the sum of $4500.00 has been paid thereon; together with certain jewelry, wearing apparel and personal effects of the Second Party; together with all bank accounts now standing in the name of Second Party and all cash therein, as of the date of this Agreement, free and clear of any and all claims of the First Party, her heirs, administrators, executors or assigns.
That in the action heretofore mentioned and upon a hearing on Order to Show Cause, certain moneys and property were disclosed and disposition of the property in the possession of both of the parties hereto was restrained by Court Order, and separate income tax returns and to pay the amount of income tax due thereon as separate accounts from their income, and that in the event Second Party shall at any future time be required to pay any income tax for and on behalf of the First Party that it shall be deducted from the Five Per Cent (5%) of the future earnings of the Second Party to be paid to the First Party, and that each party shall be responsible for and pay the tax that may re reflected by such return and amount of income of the person actually receiving the same; and that each party shall co-operate with the other in making a true, correct, and proper income tax return and in pursuance thereof shall preserve and keep all necessary and requisite information and promptly and diligently make, execute, sign and verify all necessary returns thereof.
The parties hereto state that they have entered into this Agreement relating to the question of the income tax payment, as in the foregoing paragraph contained, under the belief that they have a legal right so to do, and each of the parties hereto expressly agrees that should it be determined at any time hereafter by the United States or State Government, that no such legal right exists, then the portion of this agreement relating to such matter shall become null and void, with the express understanding and agreement of the parties hereto that the remainder of said agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
Should there, at any time hereafter, be any refund become due and/or payable by the United States or State Government to the parties hereto, or either of them, upon any income tax paid by them while making returns based upon an equal division of the two jointly as community property, then and In that event it is agreed that any such refund shall be repaid to the Second Party; likewise, should there, at any time hereafter, be additional tax demanded by the United States or State Government for any period during which said parties have so filed separate returns based upon community property, then it is agreed that said additional tax shall be divided and paid by the respective parties in shares proportionate to the individual tax of each during said period.
That the said parties hereto and/or each or either of them hereby expressly waive any and all claims, either in law or in equity, or in either or both, that he and/or she may now have or subsequently acquire against the said other party for alimony, support, maintenance, or for any, either or all of them, or for attorney’s fees or costs of Court in any action now pending or that hereafter may be brought for divorce or separate maintenance or any other action arising out of the marital relations by either of the parties to this Agreement.
Each of the parties hereto expressly waives and relinquishes any or all property rights or claims of every kind or nature existing between them, whether arising out of marital relations or as the heir of the other, or by reason of community property, or otherwise, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, and in consideration df the terms of this Agreement expressly releases and relinquished the one to the other, and to the heirs, executors, administrators and assigns thereof, any and all claims or rights arising out of inheritance, including homestead...
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Hal Roach M-G-M famous comedy team indulge in a game of leap-frog.
By Erskine Johnson
A couple of guys who like to fish went down to the sea the other day, armed with $5,000 worth of fishing tackles. For seven hours they cruised up and down the waves off Catalina Island. But they didn’t catch a thing: not even a cold.
One of the guys was Stan Laurel, who finds time to act, in the movies when he isn’t fishing. On the screen he’s funny. Fishing, he’s amazingly unfunny.
The other was your correspondent, who fully expected the expensive array of placatorial gadgets to lure nothing short of a whale, and who half expected that more impetuous inhabitants of the deep would leap aboard the star's boat demanding autographed hooks.
Neither of these things happened. Our primary objectives were swordfish, but apparently they were off somewhere else. Perhaps they were staging their annual summer fencing tournament and couldn’t be bothered.
Stan and friends onboard the Ruth L.
But we had a jot of fun just the same. Laurel’s boat, the Ruth L., a 50-foot cabin cruiser, is one of the fastest on the Pacific coast. Hits around 35 knots, wide open. There’s a galley, sleeping room for eight, and a pair of comfortable fishing chairs at the stern.
There’s a captain, too, a lanky gent with a frown face. Laurel wouldn’t know what to do if the engines sputtered and died, and he seldom takes the wheel himself. The skipper also baits Mr. Laurel’s hooks, rules the galley, and keeps everything amazingly ship-shape.
The captain would wash dishes, too. If Laurel didn’t like that chore himself, But Stan doesn’t wash ‘em in approved manner. He grabs a plate like a discus, leans overboard, and lets the rushing water lick the plate clean. “Fun.” he said. We tried it, too. It was fun.
Ruth Laurel, the comedian’s pretty blond wife for whom the boat is named, also likes to fish. She accompanied us and, like all good anglers, didn’t moan because the fish wouldn’t bite. She dozed off occasionally, but otherwise her fishing deportment was class AAA.
The amount of fishing tackles on Laurel’s boat is astounding. Two lockers are jammed full of leaders, feathered lures, hooks, canned bait, assorted rods, and an even dozen reels ranging in size from 50 to 500 yards. There’s even a live bait tank, hidden beneath an otherwise swanky leather chair. Laurel knows exactly what everything is for and he bandies a rod like an expert.
He bought the boat a year ago from a Catalina tuna club member, and the equipment was included. He caught a 171 pound swordfish last summer, but hasn’t been able to hook another since. (See postscript.) He catches lots of sharks and smaller fish, though.
If his swordfish luck doesn’t improve, however, Mr. Laurel is going to crate, or whatever they do to boats, and ship it by steamer to the gulf of Lower California. He'd like to catch a swordfish once a week, at least. And he hears that fishing is better there. “There are hundreds of ’em down there,” he says. “They say it’s terrific.” That’s just how nutty Mr. Laurel is about fishing.
Laurel’s screen partner, the hefty Mr. Oliver Hardy, seldom goes to sea with the other half of the team. Hardy’s a golf bug, which doesn’t exactly make Mr. Laurel unhappy. “We can’t see the boat when Ollie gets on,” says Stan.
Ruth and Stan Laurel pose with their record 258-pound catch.
P.S.—A couple of days later Stan caught a 258-pound marlin swordfish in the record time of 44 minutes. The Catalina Tuna Club awarded him a gold button, and he’s wearing it now every place be goes.
—NEA
December 12, 1936
On Catalina, Otis Shepard (left) hobnobbed with the island’s famous guests, such as Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel (center). At right is his patron, P.K. Wrigley, who owned the majority share of the island.
—AP Wirepohoto
December 1936
Front row, left to right, P.K. Wrigley, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy; back row, Mrs. Hardy, Mrs. Wrigley, Mrs. Laurel and Jan Gaber.
This photograph of the famous Hal Roach funsters was made on the occasion of a recent visit to Catalina Island when they were guests of its owner Mr. Wrigley.
—AP Wirepohoto
December 1936
