Grave of a Famous Person: Hal E. Roach - Elmira, NY

Hal E. Roach

Woodlawn Cemetery

Elmira, NY

N 42° 06.285 W 076° 49.561

Short Description: 

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.

Long Description:

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.