Mae Dahlberg
Mae Dahlberg (b. Charlotte Mae Dahlberg 24 May 1888, Australia, d. 1969, New York City), was a music hall and vaudeville performer and actress in several Hollywood silent movies.
In 1917, while in California, she met and formed a variety act with Stan Laurel. In 1917 she played in a comedy short, Nuts in May, notable as the screen debut of Stan Laurel (credited as Stan Jefferson). Mae Dahlberg is credited as "Mae Laurel" in several of her films.
Though Stan and Mae never married, as professional partners they lived together as common-law husband and wife from 1919 to 1925. Mae maintained that it was she who suggested Stan change his name to Laurel.[1]
By 1924, Laurel had given up the stage for full-time film work, under contract with Joe Rock for 12 two-reel comedies. The contract had one unusual stipulation, that Dahlberg was not to appear in any of the films; Rock thought her temperament was hindering Laurel's career. In 1925, when she started interfering with Laurel's work, Rock offered her a cash settlement and a one-way ticket back to her native Australia, which she accepted.[2]
Filmography
- Nuts in May (1917)
- Huns and Hyphens (1918)
- Bears and Bad Men (1918)
- Mud and Sand (1922)
- The Pest (1922)
- When Knights were Cold (1923)
- Under Two Jags (1923)
- Frozen Hearts (1923)
- The Soilers (1923)
- Mother's Joy (1923)
- Near Dublin (1924)
- Rupert of Hee Haw (1924)
- Wide Open Spaces (1924)
References
Bibliography
- Bergen, Ronald. The Life and Times of Laurel and Hardy. New York: Smithmark, 1992. ISBN 0-8317-5459-1.