Two versions of the same thing. The first one Iāve posted before. Itās from a transcript of a 1954 interview by John McCabe (in the photo with Babe) as it appears in his biography Mr Laurel and Mr Hardy, which was first published in 1961. The same authorās Babe: The Life of Oliver Hardy from 1989 is the source for the latter excerpt.
The later tale seems like one of those reimaginings; thereās a name for the āgenial littleā barber, not to mention the handsome young fat manās ārubicundā cheeks. Okay, that sounds more like a romance novel, or maybe itās just me, it was an adjective I had to look up (Iām from Finland). Anyway, minor details, many would say, add colour or whatever, but then thereās the claim that Babe didnāt care for being called Babe. Um. Really? Why would he then even have asked a random young interviewer to call him that? Sounds daft. Had McCabe forgotten his previous writings? And why would the people closest to Babe insist on calling him by a name he found āslightly demeaningā? How cruel. Or sobby. Or spineless. Also, I guess Babeās family werenāt amongst his āintimatesā since he was Norvell to them. Unlike our interviewer. š
