Director, Screenwriter, Actor. A comedy specialist, he directed several of Laurel & Hardy's funniest films. They include the Oscar-winning classic "The Music Box" (1932), the team's first feature, "Pardon Us" (1931), and the shorts "Two Tars" (1928), "A Perfect Day" (1929), "Blotto" (1930), "Brats" (1930), "Hog Wild" (1930), "Another Fine Mess" (1930), "Helpmates" (1932), "County Hospital" (1932), and "Twice Two" (1933). Parrott co-wrote the scripts and played small roles in many of these. He also directed a number of films starring his brother, comedian Charley Chase, Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly, and "Our Gang". James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He joined the Hal Roach Studio as an actor in 1921 and appeared in dozens of one-reel comedies under the name Paul Parrott before he switched to directing in 1927. Although he had an inventive comic mind, Parrott's career was hampered by alcoholism and later a drug problem. He directed no films after 1935. For a time Hal Roach kept him on his payroll as a writer and he contributed gags to the Laurel & Hardy features "Way Out West" (1937), "Swiss Miss" (1938), and "Blockheads" (1938), but by 1939 he was out of work and Chase refused to help him financially until he cleaned up his act. Parrott's death at 41 was attributed to a heart attack, but former Roach associates maintained he committed suicide. Guilt-ridden over his brother's tragic end, Chase drank himself to death a year later.
Director, Screenwriter, Actor. A comedy specialist, he directed several of Laurel & Hardy's funniest films. They include the Oscar-winning classic "The Music Box" (1932), the team's first feature, "Pardon Us" (1931), and the shorts "Two Tars" (1928), "A Perfect Day" (1929), "Blotto" (1930), "Brats" (1930), "Hog Wild" (1930), "Another Fine Mess" (1930), "Helpmates" (1932), "County Hospital" (1932), and "Twice Two" (1933). Parrott co-wrote the scripts and played small roles in many of these. He also directed a number of films starring his brother, comedian Charley Chase, Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly, and "Our Gang". James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He joined the Hal Roach Studio as an actor in 1921 and appeared in dozens of one-reel comedies under the name Paul Parrott before he switched to directing in 1927. Although he had an inventive comic mind, Parrott's career was hampered by alcoholism and later a drug problem. He directed no films after 1935. For a time Hal Roach kept him on his payroll as a writer and he contributed gags to the Laurel & Hardy features "Way Out West" (1937), "Swiss Miss" (1938), and "Blockheads" (1938), but by 1939 he was out of work and Chase refused to help him financially until he cleaned up his act. Parrott's death at 41 was attributed to a heart attack, but former Roach associates maintained he committed suicide. Guilt-ridden over his brother's tragic end, Chase drank himself to death a year later.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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