At an auction on 6th October, one lot was described
as "Laurel and Hardy's Complete Hal Roach Studio
Archive of Contracts from 1923 to 1939, with dozens
of their signatures, plus Oliver Hardy's Last Will
and Testament." It was sold to an auction floor
bidder at the Entertainment Memorabilia Auction at
the Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas,
Texas for $40,000 plus 22.5% fees. The
description also stated, "Roach preferred to keep
the two stars on separate contracts: Stan Laurel's
papers begin January 26, 1923 and proceed through
September 6, 1939; Oliver Hardy's papers commence
February 6, 1926 and conclude April 8, 1939 (in a
concurrent but separate contract from Laurel's).
There are 36 different documents/letters for
Laurel, and his signature appears 36 times; there
are 16 different letters/contracts/documents for
Hardy, and his signature appears 16 times. In
addition Hal Roach's signature appears ten times in
the Laurel papers and seven times in the Hardy
papers. Besides the contracts the papers include an
affidavit of authorship, a bill of sale, and
letters on Hal Roach Studios Inc. letterhead and
Stan Laurel Productions letterhead."
At an auction on 6th October, one lot was described
as "Laurel and Hardy's Complete Hal Roach Studio
Archive of Contracts from 1923 to 1939, with dozens
of their signatures, plus Oliver Hardy's Last Will
and Testament." It was sold to an auction floor
bidder at the Entertainment Memorabilia Auction at
the Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas,
Texas for $40,000 plus 22.5% fees. The
description also stated, "Roach preferred to keep
the two stars on separate contracts: Stan Laurel's
papers begin January 26, 1923 and proceed through
September 6, 1939; Oliver Hardy's papers commence
February 6, 1926 and conclude April 8, 1939 (in a
concurrent but separate contract from Laurel's).
There are 36 different documents/letters for
Laurel, and his signature appears 36 times; there
are 16 different letters/contracts/documents for
Hardy, and his signature appears 16 times. In
addition Hal Roach's signature appears ten times in
the Laurel papers and seven times in the Hardy
papers. Besides the contracts the papers include an
affidavit of authorship, a bill of sale, and
letters on Hal Roach Studios Inc. letterhead and
Stan Laurel Productions letterhead."