Anita Garvin

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Anita Garvin February 11 1907 July 7 1994 was an American actress and comedian who appeared in both silent and sound films She is best known for her work with comedians Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase Garvin was born in New York City Her two sisters who danced in vaudeville encouraged her talents At age 12 she lied to an agent saying she was almost sixteen and got a job being a bathing beauty for one of Mack Sennetts stage shows The following year she joined the Ziegfeld Follies She took pride in being the only woman allowed to touch Will Rogerss ropes She also appeared in Earl Carroll Vanities Garvin went on tour with the musical Sally staying with the show for two seasons then decided to stay in California when the tour left that stop in 1924 In Hollywood Garvin began working for Christie Film Companys comedies She recalled her costar Bobby Vernon dropping butter on the floor onto which she stepped and tumbled cementing her career as a comedian Charles Lamont brought her over to work for Educational Pictures In 1926 Hal Roach took her under contract where she appeared in many silent films with Charley Chase James Finlayson and Max Davidson as well as playing occasional supporting roles in feature films Standing around 6 feet tall her regal countenance and deadpan expression made her the perfect comic foil Roach later considered her one of his finest actresses Reflecting upon her frequent costar Stan Laurel Garvin observed One thing about Stanwith apologies to a lot of directorsthey thought they were directing him And they thought they were directing the picture But Stan was the oneHe was very clever about it The director was never cognizant of the fact that he was not doing all the directing Stans mind was going all the time always thinking of gags and things to do The script didnt mean a thing Garvin appeared in a total of eleven Laurel and Hardy films In 1928 she was teamed with Marion Byron as a shortlived female version of Laurel and Hardy Along with Edgar Kennedy Byron and Garvin appeared in A Pair of Tights an acknowledged masterpiece