After World War I he served in Ireland for a few months as one of the hastily-recruited British trench veterans as Royal Irish Constabulary "Temporary Constables", better known as the "Black and Tans".
Father of Julian Holloway.
Grandfather of actress Sophie Dahl
He almost backed out of the original Broadway production of "My Fair Lady" during rehearsals when he felt that director Moss Hart wasn't paying enough attention to his character. Finally Hart took him aside and said, "Look, Stanley, I am rehearsing a girl who has never played a major role in her life, and an actor who has never sung on the stage in his life. You have done both. If you feel neglected it is a compliment." Holloway burst out laughing and never brought up the subject again.
He was almost not asked to repeat his stage performance as Alfred Dolittle in My Fair Lady (1964) because producer Jack L. Warner thought that Holloway was too old at 73, and not a big enough star. However, after James Cagney turned the part down, Holloway was cast.
Holloway appeared with Rex Harrison in the stage production of "My Fair Lady". Harrison had a reputation for being very abrupt with his fans. One night after a performance of the show, Holloway and Harrison left by the stage door. It was late, cold and pouring rain and there was an old woman standing alone outside the door. When she saw Harrison, she asked him for his autograph. He told her to "Sod off", and she was so enraged at this that she rolled up her program and hit Harrison with it. Holloway congratulated him on not only making theater history, but, for the first time in world history, "the fan has hit the shit."
In My Fair Lady (1964), he was the only member of the main cast to do his own singing. Rex Harrison and Wilfrid Hyde-White talked their way through their songs, while Audrey Hepburn and Jeremy Brett were dubbed.
Made his New York debut as Bottom in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1954.
Prior to going into show business, he worked as a porter on the Billingsgate fish market.
The son of a law clerk, he sang as a soloist in a choir at the age of 14. He later harboured ambitions to become an opera singer, but World War I intervened and he enlisted as a private in the army.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1957 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) in "My Fair Lady" as Alfred P. Doolittle, a role he recreated in an Oscar-nominated performance in the film version, My Fair Lady (1964).