James Henderson Finlayson (27 August 1887 – 9 October 1953) was a Scottish actor who worked in both silent and sound comedies. Bald, with a fake moustache, Finlayson had many trademark comic mannerisms and is known for his squinting, outraged, "double take and fade away" head reaction, and characteristic expression "d'ooooooh", and as the best remembered comic foil of Laurel and Hardy. Finlayson was known by a variety of nicknames. According to Laurel and Hardy scholar Randy Skretvedt, he "called himself Jimmy, was known around the lot as Jim and is usually referred to today as 'Fin'" – as a truncated version of his surname, as author John McCabe presented it in his 1961 book biography Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy . Early life and stage career Born in Larbert, Stirlingshire, Scotland to Alexander and Isabella (née Henderson) Finlayson, James worked as a tinsmith before pursuing an acting career. As part of John Clyde's company, he played the part of Jamie Ratcliffe in Jeanie Deans at the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh in 1910. The next year (1911) with both parents deceased, he emigrated (at age 24) to the United States, along with his brother, Robert. In May 1912 in New York City, he played the role of a detective disguised as a teuchter (person originating from the Scottish West Highlands or Western Isles) in the stage production The Great Game at Daly's Theatre: "James Finlayson had an excellent opportunity, which he did not miss, for developing two characters in his one role – the simple, naive Scotsman and the artful, determined detective. The remarkable thing is that he managed to do them both at the same time." He later won the role of Rab Biggar in the Broadway production of Bunty Pulls the Strings by Graham Moffat, and dropped out of a national tour in 1916 to pursue a career in Hollywood. Film Arriving in Los Angeles in 1916, he initially found film work at L-KO and Thomas H. Ince's studio. In October 1919, he signed a contract with the Mack Sennett Comedies Corporation. He appeared in numerous Sennett-produced comedies, including with the Keystone Kops. The promotional newspaper article for the 1920 premiere of Sennett's Down on the Farm refers to Finlayson as "legitimate and screen player of international celebrity" and of his performance says: "The in the case – a sort of cross between a Turkish Don Juan and