Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1195764
be presented to Stan Laurel as an outstanding performer who, from the earliest days of the industry, has ideally represented the best qualities of the acting profession as well as leading an exemplary life as a private citizen." Laurel's health prevented him from accepting the award, an engraved Steuben crystal bowl, at the SAG annual membership meeting, so it was delivered to him at home by Heston, SAG President Dana Andrews and SAG business rep Ken Orsatti (yes, the same Ken Orsatti who became SAG national executive director nearly 20 years later). If you look closely at the main photo, you will see that Laurel is sporting a lapel pin in the shape of a rat. This did not signify a general love of rodents, but rather pride in his membership in the Grand Order of Water Rats, a fraternal and charitable organization founded by British music hall performers in 1889. Prolific Hollywood photographer Gene Lester, who took the photo, was long an admirer of Laurel and Hardy and successfully pitched and co-produced a CBS-TV memorial special, A Salute to Stan Laurel, hosted by Dick Van Dyke, after Laurel's passing in 1965. Another co-producer of the special was AFTRA's former general counsel, Henry Jaffe. Van Dyke, 2012 SAG Life Achievement Award recipient, was an equally staunch Laurel and Hardy worshiper, enthusing, "I was a fan of Stan Laurel's when I was a kid in Danville, Illinois, and did the greatest Laurel imitation on our block." Van Dyke's Hollywood Walk of Fame star is next to Laurel's and, in his 1993 star ceremony, he wore one of Laurel's bow ties, similar to the one in the photo with Andrews. Van Dyke, who also knew Laurel in his final years, gave the eulogy at his funeral and let mourners know that Laurel's sense of humor never left: As his heart was failing and the end was near, he said to the nurse in his Santa Monica apartment, "I wish I was skiing." The nurse replied, "Oh, do you ski, Mr. Laurel?" He said "No. But I'd a lot rather be skiing than doing this." — VALERIE YAROS Timekeeper Memories SAG-AFTRA L.A. BACKGROUND ACTORS COMMITTEE MEMBER Joan Del Mar, who began her career as a child performer in the 1940s, is likely the last living performer to have acted in a Laurel and Hardy picture, Nothing But Trouble, released by MGM in December 1944. Del Mar had a speaking part as the timekeeper in a boys' football game – "Two minutes to go!" — where Laurel and Hardy had been wrangled as referees. She was the only girl in the scene and Del Mar recalls her dress was sprayed with dirt to look appropriately gridiron grubby. Photos from the Laurel & Hardy Nothing But Trouble shoot, courtesy of "timekeeper" Joan Del Mar