on 24 may 1927 his wife edith, from whom he had been separated since 1904, died in her sleep of diabetes. three weeks later, karno married his second wife, his long-time partner, marie moore. karno went to the us in 1929, and was hired by the hal roach studios as a writer-director, and was reunited with one of his former protégés, stan laurel. however, his stay at the studio was brief and unsuccessful as hal roach found out karno's main abilities were as a producer, and he departed in february 1930. on his return to britain, karno helped to write and produce several short films and in 1936 returned to the theatre with a show called "real life".