Laurel and Hardy were a comedy
double act during the
early Classical Hollywood era of
American cinema. The team was composed of thin Englishman
Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and heavyset American
Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). They became well known during the late 1920s through the mid-1940s for their
slapstick comedy with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Hardy. The duo's signature tune, which is known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku" or "The Dance of the Cuckoos", was played over the opening credits of their films and has become as emblematic of the duo as their bowler hats.