Prior to emerging as a team, both actors had well - established film careers. Laurel had appeared in over 50 films as an actor (while also working as a writer and director) while Hardy had been in more than 250 productions. The two comedians had previously worked together as cast members on the film The Lucky Dog in 1921. However, they were not a comedy team at that time and it was not until 1926 that they appeared in a movie short together, when both separately signed contracts with the Hal Roach film studio. Laurel and Hardy officially became a team in 1927 when they appeared together in the silent short film Putting Pants on Philip. They remained with the Roach studio until 1940 and then appeared in eight "B '' movie comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on performing in stage shows and embarked on a music hall tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland. In 1950, before retiring from the screen, they made their last film, a French - Italian co-production called Atoll K.
when did laurel and hardy come to england
the end of 1944