Mosaic artist creates portraits of Laurel and Hardy from coins

A mosaic artist from Manchester has created portraits of Laurel and Hardy out of coins to mark the forthcoming world premiere of a biopic of the comedy legends.

The 150cm x 100cm artworks consist of pennies for Ulverston-born Stan Laurel and cents for the American Oliver Hardy.

Ed Chapman was commissioned by his friend Julian Pickford from Darwen, Lancashire, to produce a permanent reminder of their childhood comedy idols.

Mr Chapman said: "There are more than 3,500 coins in Stan's portrait and more in Ollie's, as cents are slightly smaller - well, he was bigger after all.

"Laurel and Hardy are comedy heroes of mine and I am delighted with the results.

"I usually work in vinyl records and create musicians, but coins are a great medium to work in and I hope they make a fitting tribute to two funny gentlemen."

Mr Pickford said: "Ed and I have been pals since the age of four and after school we would sit down together to watch the old Hal Roach 'two-reelers' that were shown on BBC2. We would howl with laughter and then re-enact the scenes.

"We are both hugely excited to hear about the Stan and Ollie movie, and would love to see what the film-makers think of the portraits."

The world premiere of Stan & Ollie, starring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly, takes place in London on October 21 ahead of its general UK release in January.