Arthur Stanley Jefferson von Strudel, commonly known as Stan Laurel, was a comedic actor and inventor of the spiked hairstyle. He is perhaps most famous for getting Oliver Hardy into a fine mess, and then another, and, in 1941, yet another fine mess. This resulted in the gradual mental breakdown of Hardy, who felt inclined to be friends with the constantly bumbling Laurel, providing many happy viewers with one of the longest lasting double acts in comedy history.