Former slapstick comic scattered ants on bay tree (4,6)
I believe the answer is:
stan laurel
'former slapstick comic' is the definition.
'scattered ants on bay tree' is the wordplay.
'scattered' indicates anagramming the letters.
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'bay tree' becomes 'laurel' (I've seen this before).
'ants' with letters rearranged gives 'stan'.
'stan'+'laurel'='STAN LAUREL'
(Other definitions for stan laurel that I've seen before include "US comedian, b. Ulverston (Cumbria) 1890, d. 1965" , "Old comedian" .)