Hall was born in Ward End, Birmingham, Warwickshire, and learned carpentry as a trade;[citation needed] however, as a teenager, he became a member of the Fred Karno troupe of stage comedians.

His height and slight English accent allowed him to be convincingly cast as a college student, despite being 40 years old, in Laurel and Hardy's A Chump at Oxford.

Hall continued to play bits and supporting roles in short subjects and features through the 1940s and 1950s, occasionally on television, and appearing briefly in Charlie Chaplin's final American film, Limelight (1952).

Hall died of colon cancer at his home in North Hollywood, California on 7 December 1959 and was buried three days later in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in nearby Glendale.

[2][3] On the retired actor's official death certificate—registered by the California Department of Public Health on December 10, 1959—his "Last Occupation" is cited as "Prop Maker" at "Warner Brothers Studio".