James Finlayson (actor)
James Finlayson | |
|---|---|
Finlayson in 1923 | |
| Born | James Henderson Finlayson 27 August 1887 Larbert, Stirlingshire, Scotland |
| Died | 9 October 1953 (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1910–1951 |
| Spouse |
Emily Cora Gilbert (m. 1919) |
James Henderson Finlayson (27 August 1887 – 9 October 1953) was a Scottish actor who worked in both silent and sound comedies. Balding, with a fake moustache, he had many trademark comic mannerisms—including his squinting, outraged double-take reactions, and his characteristic exclamation: "D'ooooooh!" He is the best remembered comic foil of Laurel and Hardy.
Finlayson was known by a variety of nicknames. According to Laurel and Hardy scholar Randy Skretvedt, he "called himself Jimmy, was known around the lot as Jim and is usually referred to today as 'Fin'"—a truncated version of his surname, as author John McCabe also noted in his 1961 biography Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy.