Oliver Hardy of Laurel & Hardy was born in Harlem, Georgia, on January 18, 1892, and was the youngest of five children. He was named after his father, who passed away less than a year after young Oliver was born. As a boy, he attended Georgia Military College in Milledgeville and later, when he was 13, was sent to Young Harris College in northern Georgia.

Oliver was never an engaged student academically but acquired an early interest in music and theatre. Fortunately, his mother supported his passion and talent for singing and sent him to study music and voice. Hardy immediately set off to make a living through his art, frequently skipping his lessons to sing in the Alcazar Theater for $3.50 a week. In 1910, Hardy returned to Milledgeville to work behind the scenes at The Palace, a local vaudeville house and a movie theater, serving as the venue’s projectionist, ticket taker, janitor, and manager.

During his tenure in Milledgeville, Hardy’s passion for the budding motion picture industry flourished, and he gained an ardent belief that he could do a better job than the actors he saw on screen. At the suggestion of a friend, Oliver moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in an effort to establish himself in some of the films being made there. He moved in 1913 and quickly got involved in singing and acting, working as a cabaret and vaudeville singer at night and at the Lubin Manufacturing Company during the day. While he lived in Jacksonville, Hardy was initiated into Freemasonry as a member of Solomon Lodge

Laurel & Hardy COMEDIAN AND FREEMASON OLIVER HARDY | Masonic Audiobook Library