The day the music died, Below Zero

BLANCHE PAYSON

b Sept. 20,1881; d. July 4, 1964
Appeared with Laurel and Hardy in 3 films.

Other notable films: The Three Ages (1923); For Heaven's Sake (1926); Dogs is Dogs (1931); Hoi Polloi (1935); You Can't Take It With You (1938); Ghosts on the Loose aka The East Side Kids Meet Bela Lugosi (1943)

This menacing hulk of a woman, who may have been a women's prison guard before entering the movie business, only made three films with the Boys, but as fate would have it, each one was a true classic. She can be seen maliciously destroying the Boys livelihood in Below Zero and ending her conversation with Stan with a formidable sock on the chin in Our Wife. Her five seconds of screentime in Helpmates, berating Ollie at a speed and pitch that rivals Mae Busch at her best, sends shivers down the spine. Blanche Payson's craggy face and razor sharp voice helped her win many a part in comedies throughout the years, and she worked with everybody from Buster Keaton and Our Gang to The Three Stooges and The East Side Kids. A funny, but genuinely scary, screen presence.

Copyright © John V. Brennan, 1998. All Rights Reserved.
Property of Laurel and Hardy Central

BLANCHE PAYSON'S FILMS WITH LAUREL AND HARDY

Below Zero (Livelihood destroyer)
Our Wife (Justice of the Peace's wife)
Helpmates (Mrs. Hardy)