Mae Dahlberg

Mae Dahlberg sometimes known as Mae Laurel, (24 May 1888, Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia – 1969, New York, U.S.) was an Australian-born music hall and vaudeville performer and actress, later active in Hollywood silent films. She was Stan Laurel's professional partner and common-law wife, from 1917 to 1925.

She was born May Charlotte Dahlberg on 24 May 1888, in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, Victoria, Australia, to Louis, a labourer, and Mary Jane (nee Gundry). By 1905 she had begun to earn a reputation performing as a singer and dancer on the Australian stage, with positive reviews. In 1906 she married baritone and fellow performer Rupert Cuthbert, while in Hobart, Tasmania. A child, Rupert Clifton Saxe Cuthbert, was born of the union in 1908, in Melbourne.

In about 1913, Dahlberg and Cuthbert sailed for the United States.

Dahlberg and Cuthbert's personal and professional relationship apparently did not last. While performing in a "sister act," in California, Dahlberg met and formed a variety act with Stan Laurel. In 1917 she played in a comedy short, Nuts in May, notable as the screen debut of Stan Laurel (credited as Stan Jefferson). Mae Dahlberg is credited as "Mae Laurel" in several of her films.

Though Stan and Mae never married, as professional partners they lived together as common-law husband and wife from 1917 to 1925. Mae maintained that it was she who suggested Stan change his name to Laurel.

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