Babe London (born Jean Glover, August 28, 1901 – November 29, 1980) was an American actress and comedian, most remembered for her one-time partnership with

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his ...

in the 1931

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

two-reeler '' Our Wife''.

Career

London was born in 1901 in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. Her parents were Dr. David James Glover and Ruth Glover. After the family moved to California, London attended

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, San Diego, California, Balboa Park in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School Dist ...

. London began her screen career as a teenager making her film debut in ''The Expert Eloper'' in 1919. She then appeared in ''

A Day's Pleasure ''A Day's Pleasure'' (1919) is Charlie Chaplin's fourth film for First National Films. It was created at the Chaplin Studio. It was a quickly made two-reeler to help fill a gap while working on his first feature '' The Kid''. It is about a day ...

'', performing opposite

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

. The two played seasick tourists on an excursion boat. She had the role of Rosy Leadbetter in ''Merely Mary Ann'' (1920). London appeared in more than 50 silent films, including '' The Perfect Flapper'', ''

The Boob ''The Boob'' (released in the UK as ''The Yokel'') is a 1926 American silent film, silent romantic comedy film directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Gertrude Olmstead, Antonio D'Algy, George K. Arthur, and Joan Crawford as a law enforcem ...

'' and the 1928 version of '' Tillie's Punctured Romance'' starring

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American actor, comedian, juggler and writer. His career in show business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success as a ...

. She worked with many of the funny men of the day, including

Harry Langdon Henry Philmore "Harry" Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American actor and comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', December 27 ...

and

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with ...

. At the height of her career, London weighed 255 pounds. Later, a heart condition necessitated a loss of 100 pounds, and her movie offers declined along with her weight. She never regained her earlier success. Her last most notable role was that of the toothless nurse Nora that

Shemp Howard Shemp Howard (born Samuel Horwitz; March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955) was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the third Stooge in The Three Stooges, a role he played when the act began in the early 1920s (1923–1932), while i ...

has eyes for in the

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

film '' Scrambled Brains''. Her last film appearance was in 1960's ''

Sex Kittens Go to College ''Sex Kittens Go to College'' (a.k.a. ''The Beauty and the Robot'') is a 1960 American comedy film by Allied Artists Pictures, produced and directed by Albert Zugsmith and starring Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, and Mijanou Bardot. The film wa ...

''.

Later years

In the late 1950s, London began a second career as a painter and devoted the last 20 years of her life to depicting on canvas the early years of Hollywood. She titled the series ''The Vanishing Era.''

Personal life and death

In 1975, London married Hollywood musical director Phil Boutelje. Both were retired and living at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an observ ...

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

, when they met. They continued to live there until Boutelje died on July 29, 1979. London willed 75 of her paintings to the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West (including politics, settlement, Native Americans, and W ...

, along with her personal belongings.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:London, Babe 1901 births 1980 deaths American film actresses American silent film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Des Moines, Iowa 20th-century American actresses San Diego High School alumni