Hal E. Roach - Elmira, NY
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 06.285 W 076° 49.561
18T E 349019 N 4663020
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr., film and television producer, director, and actor was born in Elmira, NY on January 14, 1892 and died in Bel Air, CA on November 2, 1992 at age 100. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, NY.
Waymark Code: WMPNEP
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 09/26/2015
Views: 7
The headstone of Hal E. Roach is inscribed:
HAL E. ROACH
1892-1992
AFTER LEAVING ELMIRA HE FOUND
SUCCESS IN HOLLYWOOD AND
MOTION PICTURES BUT ALWAYS
LOVED HIS HOMETOWN AND
HAS RETURNED
Hal E. Roach is best known for producing the Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang (a.k.a. The Little Rascals) comedy film series. The grandson of Irish immigrants, he was inspired by a meeting with summer Elmira resident, Mark Twain, when he was in grade school. He arrived in Hollywood, CA in 1912 and began working as an extra in silent films. He he began producing short comedies in 1915 with his friend Harold Lloyd as the character known as Lonesome Luke.
Roach moved from Los Angeles and purchased what was to become the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, CA. There he worked with Harold Lloyd, Will Rogers, Max Davidson, the Our Gang kids, Charley Chase, Harry Langdon, Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts, Patsy Kelly and, Laurel and Hardy.
In 1931, Roach began releasing full length Laurel and Hardy films. He evolved into producing adventure films such as Captain Fury, and dramas such as Of Mice and Men.
He died of pneumonia in Bel Air, CA at age 100, having outlived two wives and three of his six children by his two marriages. He is buried in a family plot in his hometown of Elmira, NY.