Interested in the theatre, he traveled to New York City, then when fellow Canadian Mack Sennett offered him a job at his new Keystone Studios, Lord went on to work in Hollywood, California.

Given a chance to direct, Del Lord became a specialist in automotive gags, rigging cars to explode, crash, fall apart, or dangle in precarious positions.

[1] From 1935 to 1945, Lord directed some of Columbia's fastest and funniest two-reelers and is credited with developing the unique comic style of the Three Stooges.

In 1936 a Canadian law required that American studios would have to release a certain quota of Canadian-made films in order to distribute their own Hollywood productions in Canada.

Two rock bands took their names from the Stooges' frequently credited director: the Del-Lourds of New Jersey (1963)[citation needed] and The Del-Lords of New York City (1983-90 and 2010-13).