AN insight into a flamboyant, multi-talented theatrical figure and father of a locally born comic actor is set to be released tomorrow.

Arthur Jefferson. Man of the Theatre and Father of Stan Laurel is the first biography of this man.

His own contribution to the world of entertainment has been overshadowed by the international stature of his son, who was born in Ulverston.

Mr Laurel was the creative member of the hugely successful film partnership of Laurel and Hardy.

Author Danny Lawrence, said: "I am absolutely delighted about the release of the book.

"It has been a long time coming."

The book tells a powerful human-interest story, set against the background of the major changes in the entertainment industry over a 100-year period.

Mr Jefferson was a fine actor in his own right as well as a major influence on his son Stan – just as he, in turn, has been a major influence on successive generations of comic performers.

Mr Lawrence decided to write the book because he is a huge fan of Stan Laurel.

He said: "I have been interested in Stan Laurel, the creative mastermind behind Laurel and Hardy for some time now.

"When I was looking into his life I noticed the huge influence his father had been on him so decided to base the book on him."

However, acting was just one of Mr Jefferson's prodigious talents.

He was also a successful dramatist and his plays toured the UK and abroad to packed houses for many years.

Surprisingly, the first film in which the Laurel and Hardy partnership emerged fully formed in 1927 was based on a comedy sketch which Mr Jefferson had written for the theatre in 1906.

Mr Laurel had played a role in it as a teenager and it was Mr Laurel himself who wrote the screenplay for that crucial early Laurel and Hardy film, Duck Soup .

In the book, there are examples of how the provincial theatres provided Victorians and Edwardians with their main source of entertainment.

In the days before radio, cinema or TV, that was more than enough to make Mr Jefferson a local celebrity, but he added to his reputation with his flair for advertising and marketing, and numerous contributions to the life of the local community.

The book describes the many ups and sometimes tragic downs in Mr Jefferson's life, including his unusual family background, his acting careers, the reception afforded his plays and sketches, his many years as a theatre lessee, his brief sorties into film-making, and his time as a theatrical agent.

It also discusses his two marriages, and the lives of his four children, all of whom followed in his footsteps into show business.

Mr Jefferson claimed his birthday was September 12, 1862, but there are reasons to believe it could have been significantly earlier.

His upbringing was most unusual and is described in fascinating detail.

His early life reveals just how different it was to be born in Victorian Britain.

In his case, he was born both a victim and a beneficiary of the double standards and behaviour which was characteristic of some of its outwardly upstanding men.

Nevertheless, however, unorthodox his upbringing, Mr Jefferson went on to become a success in his chosen line of business and mixed comfortably with people who, unlike him, had enjoyed every advantage while growing up.

Mr Lawrence started writing the book around five years ago.

He said: "The book covers all of his life so it took a lot of research. Especially because all of the history dates back such a long time and Arthur Jefferson lived to a ripe old age so there was a lot to look at and cover."

Mr Jefferson had many different links in his life, taking him as far up as Scotland and as far down south as London.

Scottish Links:

Mr Jefferson took on the lease of Glasgow's Metropole theatre in 1901 and remained in charge until 1922, although for 15 of those years he was an absentee manager.

His family moved to Scotland from north-east England in 1905 but, sadly, his time in Glasgow was far from happy.

He ran into major financial difficulties, his wife Madge died and his four children soon went their separate ways.

North West Links:

He was born and raised in the West Midlands, but when still young the family moved to Liverpool then to Manchester.

It was while living there that he began his acting career as a member of a touring company based at the Theatre Royal in Whitehaven, although he continued to use his Manchester address.

In 1884, he married Madge Metcalfe from Ulverston and lived there for several months before resuming his career as an actor.

Contrary to a widely held belief, Mr Jefferson was never employed in an Ulverston theatre although it was in Ulverston that his first two children, Gordon and Stan, were born.

Midland Links:

After 30 years in London, Mr Jefferson spent his final seven years back in the Midlands, living with his actress daughter Beatrice Olga in Barkston.

London Links:

Mr Jefferson lived in London from 1912 to 1942. It was from here that he ran not only his theatrical agency but also his Scottish theatre until 1922.

By the time that Mr Jefferson died in 1949, show business had moved on it ways that would have seemed unimaginable to him in his prime.

He had once rubbed shoulders with the likes of Charles Dickens, Sir Henry Irving, Bram Stoker and Mrs Patrick Campbell but, sadly, by living so long his passing went unnoticed by the theatrical world of today.


His famous son

Stan Laurel – born Arthur Stanley Jefferson – was born June 16, 1890, and died February 23, 1965.

He was an English comic actor, writer and film director, who was part of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.

He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films and cameo roles.

Stan began his career in music hall, where he appropriated a number of his standard comic devices: the bowler hat, the deep comic gravity and the nonsensical understatement.

He began his film career in 1917 and made his final appearance in 1951.

From 1928 onwards, he appeared exclusively with Hardy.

Stan officially retired from the screen following his comedy partner's death in 1957.

In 1961, Laurel was given a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award for his pioneering work in comedy.

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Laurel and Hardy ranked top among best double acts and seventh overall in 2005 UK poll to find the Comedian's Comedian.

In 2009, a bronze statue of the due was unveiled in Stan's hometown of Ulverston.