Career
Hatley wrote many of the musical cues appearing in the Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, and Charley Chase films. His most memorable composition is "The Cookoo Song" (also known as "Ku-Ku", or "Dance of the Cuckoos"), which serves as Laurel and Hardy"s theme song. He was also the "player piano" (performing off-screen) in The Music Box (1932).
In 1939, Hatley was fired from the Roach studio.
At the insistence of Stan Laurel, however, he did return to score one final Laurel & Hardy film, Saps at Sea. Hatley went on to become a lounge pianist, and often remarked that he earned more money in that career than during his days at the Roach studio.
Marvin Hatley was a native of Reed, Oklahoma. He died on August 23, 1986 in Hollywood, California.
