The only British born star of Film Fun in the very early days was the now forgotten Charlie Chaplin impersonator Jimmy Aubrey. Charlie Chaplin himself never appeared in Film Fun as he had already been snapped up as the regular cover star of Funny Wonder in Aug 1915 by editor G H Cantle with artwork for the most part by Bertie Brown.philcom55 wrote:One interesting thing demonstrated by that first issue advert is the fact that most of Film Fun's original stars tended to be American (though Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel admittedly started out on this side of the Atlantic), whereas they were almost all British by the end. I'd have to check to be sure but it may be that in the early days Radio Fun was seen as the natural venue for homegrown celebrities.
- Phil Rushton
And, in fact, although they became legendary mainstays of Film Fun, neither Stan Laurel or Oliver Hardy, actually began their comic strip careers in the paper. Oliver Hardy appearing in his own solo strip in the early issues of Kinema Comic in 1920-1921 with artwork by Reg Carter ( emphasising the considerable film career he had prior to his partnering with Stan Laurel which included an appearance as the Tin Man in the silent version of The Wizard of Oz) and the Laurel and Hardy partnership itself first being given the comic strip treatment in the pages of The Realm of Fun and Fiction in Dec 1929 with artwork again by Reg Carter.
They eventually arrived in the pages of Film Fun in issue No 534 in Nov 1930 where they initally occupied the centre-spread and where they remained until March 1934 when they wrested the front and rear cover spot from Joe E Brown, a spot they would then retain until their final Film Fun appearance in No 1974 in Nov 1957. Their removal being as a consequence of Oliver Hardy's death the previous August. The artists responsible for their Film Fun strips being Billy Wakefield up until his death in 1942 and who was then followed by Fred Crompton, Norman Ward and Billy Wakefield's son Terry.