{
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  "@type": "Person",
  "@id": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/person/89738/marvin-hatley",
  "name": "Marvin Hatley",
  "url": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/person/89738/marvin-hatley",
  "knownForDepartment": "Sound",
  "description": "Thomas Marvin Hatley professionally known simply as Marvin Hatley, was an American film composer and musical director, best known for his work for the Hal Roach studio from 1929 until 1940.\n\nHatley wrote many of the musical cues appearing in the Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, and Charley Chase films. His most memorable composition is \"Dance of the Cuckoos\"(also known as \"Ku-Ku\", or \"The Cookoo Song\"), which serves as Laurel and Hardy's theme song. He was also the \"player piano\" (performing off-screen) in The Music Box (1932). His work in Laurel and Hardy's films Way Out West and Block-Heads earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.\n\nIn 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.\n\nMarvin Hatley was a native of Reed, Oklahoma. He died on August 23, 1986 in Hollywood, California.",
  "birthDate": "1905-04-03",
  "deathDate": "1986-08-23",
  "birthPlace": "Reed, Oklahoma, USA",
  "alternateName": [
    "T. Marvin Hatley",
    "The Ranch Boys"
  ],
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0368943"
  ],
  "lastVerified": "4 May 2026",
  "filmography": [
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      "tmdbId": 23101,
      "title": "Topper",
      "year": "1937",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
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      "tmdbId": 43841,
      "title": "Block-Heads",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "Music Director",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.952,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/23rkwonNcEqTiXmqsEUPaeT4iII.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/43841/block-heads-1938"
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      "tmdbId": 25599,
      "title": "Way Out West",
      "year": "1937",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 7.069,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/pTYnwvsD4j5chX8MFgiwx9AzSXj.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 375282,
      "title": "Pardon Us",
      "year": "1931",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.425,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/nBTlnEuKSMoNKO4zYAZ78wcxgkc.jpg",
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    {
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      "tmdbId": 50828,
      "title": "Brats",
      "year": "1930",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.779,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/3Ap5coZMWR6dUQYZJGlEewXygFM.jpg",
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    {
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      "tmdbId": 43889,
      "title": "Bonnie Scotland",
      "year": "1935",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.616,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/6eUwTJEFA6iciNvV2oJJWFRsKMw.jpg",
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    {
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      "tmdbId": 43128,
      "title": "Sons of the Desert",
      "year": "1933",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 7.065,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/4ojrxP6qiyDOQ5jHQlh7Yn59wJt.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 48756,
      "title": "Come Clean",
      "year": "1931",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 7.173,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/5xI2S8EPNYFgNURL0L4jD1C8fa1.jpg",
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    {
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      "tmdbId": 50928,
      "title": "Hog Wild",
      "year": "1930",
      "role": "Music",
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      "voteAverage": 6.845,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/dIdBsZ6Qgm2s2oLLOWX36d7WKl0.jpg",
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    {
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      "tmdbId": 90358,
      "title": "General Spanky",
      "year": "1936",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
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      "voteAverage": 5.667,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/qnf2STVPgqzn83cPQsuTY6AwUxR.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 50829,
      "title": "Scram!",
      "year": "1932",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 7.184,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/vtssmHUbNw9uYF4R79Oqdzu02Q0.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 151935,
      "title": "Captain Fury",
      "year": "1939",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 5.556,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/pbZMDHCjPqPEmyIBYI8aH5cARAx.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/151935/captain-fury-1939"
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 50856,
      "title": "Another Fine Mess",
      "year": "1930",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.894,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/iyuWgxf18c6GjiiVWsmNezxhgnG.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 127040,
      "title": "Pick a Star",
      "year": "1937",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 4.786,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/eBFFypjm6lOZHyfRurNqf4gbmm6.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 50907,
      "title": "Their First Mistake",
      "year": "1932",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.404,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/Lkj0LDJ4PfT4ZMRioR2ugumnFK.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 44892,
      "title": "The Music Box",
      "year": "1932",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
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      "voteAverage": 7.516,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/zwU0Y7VS3d326v1pYY7kif1y7xQ.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 50914,
      "title": "Towed in a Hole",
      "year": "1932",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.961,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/vGiSl2seDxgpkNo7rftQml5xHDk.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 111315,
      "title": "Merrily We Live",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.897,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/zLnhWe9hLIFyq6PrhcCdbaIg9ah.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/111315/merrily-we-live-1938"
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 50915,
      "title": "Twice Two",
      "year": "1933",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.686,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/35BtdBbbryOQcWTyF0ZSzH7kXGY.jpg",
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    {
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      "tmdbId": 44775,
      "title": "Pack Up Your Troubles",
      "year": "1932",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.75,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/1nfi4YmKSHn974CDd5VxOtPYOLU.jpg",
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      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 80771,
      "title": "There Goes My Heart",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "Original Music Composer",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 7.267,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/cKWrAEES5NkT5Uc5j4bhMoIukKF.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/80771/there-goes-my-heart-1938"
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 42299,
      "title": "Busy Bodies",
      "year": "1933",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 7.299,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/mbMflFt5S2ZJFJXgJCmXYXAziIz.jpg",
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 54430,
      "title": "Topper Takes a Trip",
      "year": "1938",
      "role": "Music Supervisor",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.615,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/7eNvEGuEIgnn1dwuVBpoQRYfhxH.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/54430/topper-takes-a-trip-1938"
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    {
      "mediaType": "movie",
      "tmdbId": 48670,
      "title": "The Chimp",
      "year": "1932",
      "role": "Music",
      "roleKind": "crew",
      "voteAverage": 6.5,
      "posterUrl": "https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500/15UlyyhcUd39AVfEQlYHX8aCsCU.jpg",
      "screenSearchUrl": "https://www.screensearch.co.uk/watch/movie/48670/the-chimp-1932"
    }
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}