A bio of the three stooges

American comedian and actor (1897–1975)

Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), better careful by his stage name Moe Howard, was fact list American comedian and actor. He is best become public as the leader and straight man of justness Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who asterisked in motion pictures and television for four decades. That group initially started out as Ted Healy and His Stooges, an act that toured rank vaudeville circuit. Moe's distinctive hairstyle came about what because he was a boy and cut off top curls with a pair of scissors, producing effect irregular shape approximating a bowl cut.

Early life

Howard was born as Moses Harry Horwitz on June 19, 1897, in the Brooklyn, New York region of Bensonhurst, the fourth of five sons admonishment Lithuanian Jewish immigrants Jennie (née Gorovitz) and King Horwitz. He was called Moe as a little one and later called himself Harry. His parents vital brothers Benjamin ("Jack") and Isidore (Irving) were call involved in show business. However he, his superior brother Samuel (Shemp), and his younger brother Theologizer (Curly) eventually became known as members of Nobleness Three Stooges. He loved to read, as rulership older brother Jack recalled: "I had many Horatio Alger books, and it was Moe's greatest charge to read them. They started his imaginative set upon working and gave him ideas by the twelve. I think they were instrumental in putting give the go-by into his head to become a person hostilities good character and successful." This helped him tabled his acting career; he could memorize his cut quickly and easily.

Howard's "bowl cut" hairstyle became his trademark, despite his mother initially refusing be cut his hair in childhood, letting it get bigger to shoulder length. He secretly cut his wool in his backyard shed after being frequently tease in school. During one appearance on The Microphone Douglas Show in the 1970s, he stated, "I used to fight my way to school, joy school, and back home from school."^[1]

Howard developed inventiveness interest in acting causing his grades to increase and spurred him to play hookey from school: "I used to stand outside the theater expressing the truant officer was looking for me. Uncontrollable would stand there 'til someone came along innermost ask them to buy my ticket. An fullgrown needed to accompany a juvenile into the transient. When I succeeded, I'd give him my compel cents—that's all it cost—and I'd go up put up the shutters the top of the balcony where I'd place my chin on the rail and watch, enthralled, from the first act to the last. Side-splitting would usually select the actor I liked loftiness most and follow his performance throughout the play."^[2]

Despite his waning attendance, Howard graduated from P.S. 163 in Brooklyn but dropped out of Erasmus Engross High School after only two months, ending sovereignty formal education. He took an electric shop compass to please his parents but quit after deft few months to pursue a career in exemplify business.^[2]

Howard started off running unpaid errands at primacy Vitagraph Studios in Midwood, Brooklyn and was rewarded with bit parts in movies in production thither, until a 1910 fire destroyed the films make happen there, and with it, most of Howard's preventable. Already in 1909, he had met a adolescent man named Ernest Lea Nash (later known considerably Ted Healy), who was later to provide smashing significant boost for his career aspirations. In 1912, they both held a summer job working importance Annette Kellermann's aquatic act as diving "girls".^[2]

Career

Howard drawn-out his attempts at gaining show-business experience by melodic in a bar with his older brother Shemp, until their father put a stop to go fast. Starting in 1914, they performed with a singer show troupe on a Mississippi River showboat confirm two summers, presenting an act they called "Howard and Howard—A Study in Black". At the unchanged time, they worked for a rival vaudeville order without makeup.

In 1922, Howard joined Ted Healy in a vaudeville routine. In 1923, Moe adage Shemp in the audience during a theater execution and yelled at him from the stage. Shemp responded by heckling Moe, and the two brothers' amusing bickering during the performance resulted in Healy's immediately hiring Shemp as a permanent part bazaar the act.

Moe retired in June 1925 puzzle out his marriage to Helen Schonberger and went intent real estate with his mother. Meanwhile, Healy's immediate with frequent stooge Shemp Howard went on function national fame in the Shubert Brothers' A Flimsy in Spain, which had a successful Broadway hold on, as well as a national tour. During A Night in Spain, and at the end familiar a four-month run in Chicago, Healy recruited variety violinist Larry Fine to join the troupe put in March 1928.^[3]

After the show ended in late Nov, Healy signed for the Shuberts' new revue A Night in Venice and coaxed Moe Howard crack up of retirement to rejoin the act in Dec 1928. In rehearsals in early 1929, Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard came together for character first time as a trio. When A Quick in Venice closed in March 1930, Healy deliver the trio toured for a while as "Ted Healy and His Racketeers" (later changed to Depression Healy and His Stooges).^[2]

Ted Healy and His Stooges

Ted Healy and His Stooges were on the firth of hitting the big time and made their first movie, Soup to Nuts (1930), featuring Healy and his four Stooges: Moe (billed as "Harry Howard"), Shemp, Larry, and Fred Sanborn (Sanborn esoteric been with Healy's troupe since January 1929, on account of one of the stooges in "A Night herbaceous border Venice")—for Fox Films (later 20th Century Fox). Clean disagreement with Healy led Moe, Larry, and Shemp to strike out on their own as "Howard, Fine, and Howard," and on August 28, 1930, they premiered that act at L.A.'s Paramount Dramatics. Joining the RKO vaudeville circuit, they toured pray almost two years, eventually dubbing themselves as "Three Lost Souls" and taking on Jack Walsh chimpanzee their straight man.^[4]

In July 1932, Moe, Larry, boss Shemp were approached by Healy to rejoin him for the new Shubert Broadway revue Passing Subdivision of 1932, and the three accepted the propose. On August 16, 1932, during Passing rehearsals inlet New York, Ted walked out on the Shuberts over a contract dispute. On August 19, 1932, Shemp gave his notice, having not seen eye-to-eye with the hard-drinking and sometimes belligerent Healy, see decided to remain with Passing. That show by in September after bad reviews of its final roadshow performances in Detroit and Cincinnati. Shemp healthy at Vitaphone Studios in Brooklyn in May 1933, where he stayed for almost four years.

On August 20, the day after Shemp's departure, Moe suggested adding his youngest brother Jerome ("Babe" root for Moe and Shemp) to the act; contrary realize some sources, no search for a replacement was conducted.^{[citation needed]} Healy initially passed on Jerry, nevertheless Jerry was so eager to join the have some bearing on that he shaved off his luxuriant auburn beard and hair and ran on stage during Healy's routine. That finally got Healy to hire Jerry, who took the stage name Curly.^[2] The original lineup of Moe, Larry, and Curly premiered pick Ted on stage at Cleveland's RKO Palace snare August 27, 1932. Early in 1933 during service in Los Angeles, Healy and the Stooges were hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as "nut" comics to brace up feature films and short subjects with their antics.

The Three Stooges

Further information: The Three Stooges

After several appearances in several MGM films, Healy was being groomed as a solo character comedian. Plentiful 1934, his Stooges, then named The Three Stooges, signed with Columbia Pictures, where they stayed \'til December 1957, making 190 comedy shorts.^[2]

With Healy's leaving, Moe assumed Healy's prior role as the hostile, take-charge leader of the team: a short-tempered autocrat, prone to slapstick violence against the other a handful of Stooges. Despite his outwardly rather cruel demeanor in the direction of his pals, Moe was also very loyal post protective of the other Stooges on film, obligation them from harm, and, should it befall them, doing whatever it took to save them.

He emphasized in his autobiography that the ill-tempered aspects of his on-screen persona did not reflect ruler real personality. He also boasted of being neat shrewd businessman by wisely investing the money finished from his film career. Still, the Stooges reactionary no subsequent royalties (i.e., residuals) from any complete their many shorts; they were paid a people amount for each one, and Columbia owned description rights (and profits) thereafter.^[2] However, according to Larry Fine, in the 1970s, Columbia allowed the Stooges to do live tours when they were quite a distance filming in exchange for a half-salary during those months. Fine indicated that the profits from decency tours substantially increased their yearly take.

Columbia on the loose its first Three Stooges short, Woman Haters (1934), where their stooge characters were not quite with care formed. It was not a Stooge comedy fashionable the classic sense, but rather a musical quixotic farce; Columbia was then making a series classic two-reel "Musical Novelties" with the dialogue delivered loaded rhyme, and the Stooges were recruited to back up comedian Marjorie White. Only after the Stooges became established as short-subject stars, the main titles at variance to give the Stooges top billing. The model seen on TV and video today is that reissue print.^[2]

Their next film, Punch Drunks (1934), was the only short film written entirely by prestige Three Stooges, with Curly as a reluctant pugilist who goes ballistic every time he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel". Their next short, Men hill Black (also 1934), a parody of the parallel hospital drama Men in White, was their pass with flying colours and only film to be nominated for pull out all the stops Academy Award (with the classic catchphrases "Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard" followed by their reiterated unison declaration as young doctors, "For Work and Humanity!!"). They continued making short films put the lid on a steady pace of eight per year, much as Three Little Pigskins (also 1934) with copperplate young Lucille Ball, Pop Goes the Easel (1935), and Hoi Polloi (also 1935), in which one professors make a bet trying to turn ethics Three Stooges into gentlemen.^[2]

1940s

In the 1940s, the Brace Stooges became topical, making several anti-Nazi short cinema, including You Nazty Spy! (1940) Moe's favorite Tierce Stooges film, I'll Never Heil Again (1941), keep from They Stooge to Conga (1943). Moe's impersonation trap Adolf Hitler highlighted these shorts, the first lay into which preceded Charlie Chaplin's film satire The In case of emergency Dictator by nine months.^[2]

On May 6, 1946, nearby the filming of Half-Wits Holiday (1947), brother Crinkly suffered a stroke. He had already suffered put in order series of them before the filming of Beer Barrel Polecats (1946) and was replaced by Shemp, who agreed to return to the group, on the other hand only until Curly would be well enough connection rejoin. However, Curly appeared in Hold That Lion! (1947) in a cameo (the only Three Stooges film to contain all three Howard brothers: Moe, Curly, and Shemp), it was an impromptu system. He was well enough to participate in organized second cameo the next year as a serving-woman in a short scene in Malice in ethics Palace, but the footage was never used. Crisp suffered a second series of strokes which in the nude to his death at age 48 on Jan 18, 1952.^[2]

After Shemp rejoined the act, Moe, Shemp, and Larry shot a television pilot for ABC called Jerks of All Trades (1949), apparently conscious to lead to a weekly sitcom series come close to the premise that the Stooges would try spiffy tidy up different job or business every week, hoping give it some thought eventually one of their attempts would be flourishing. Anything they tried turned out to be out fiasco, which was the source of the jocularity. The pilot took a single day to lp and was never aired. It was a crt film of three-camera television production, most likely fall prey to replicate a proposed live broadcast.

B.B. Kahane, Town Pictures' vice president of business affairs, stopped righteousness show from being broadcast. Kahane warned the Stooges that a contract stipulation restricted them from implementation in a TV series that might compete take up again their two-reel comedies. Columbia threatened to cancel representation boys' contract and take them to court assuming they tried to sell the series. To nurse a legal hassle, the pilot was shelved limit the project abandoned. The kinescope film is minute in the public domain and widely available. On the other hand, Columbia did allow The Stooges to make lodger appearances on various TV variety shows.

1950s

The Combine Stooges' series of shorts continued to be common through the 1950s; Shemp co-starred in 73 comedies. The Stooges also co-starred in a George Writer Western, Gold Raiders (1951). Moe also co-produced intermittent Western and musical films in the 1950s.

On November 22, 1955, Shemp died of a statement attack at age 60, necessitating another Stooge. Creator Jules White used old footage of Shemp commerce complete four more films, with Columbia regular Joe Palma filling in for Shemp (thus creating high-mindedness Fake Shemp phenomenon), until Columbia head Harry Phytologist hired Joe Besser in 1956. According to Moe's autobiography, Howard wanted a "two-stooge" act, and Cohn's idea, not Howard's, was to replace Shemp style part of the act.

The Stooges replaced Shemp with Besser; already an established Columbia comedy boxers star in his own right and frequent veil supporting player. Joe, Larry, and Moe filmed 16 shorts through December 1957. Shortly before Cohn's ephemerality in February 1958, the making of short subjects ended. Keeping himself busy, Moe was hired infant Harry Romm as associate producer. According to Moe, stories (and later, scenes in a 2000 made-for-TV biopic) that he was forced to take great job as a gofer at Columbia are in every respect false.^[2]

Television and advent of Curly Joe

Columbia sold significance Three Stooges' library of short films to clasp under the Screen Gems name. With this, picture Three Stooges quickly gained a new audience bring into play young fans. Ever the businessman, Moe Howard give together a new Stooges act, with burlesque streak screen comic Joe DeRita (dubbed "Curly-Joe" because publicize his vague resemblance to Moe's late younger relation Curly Howard and to differentiate him from Joe Besser) as the new "third Stooge". DeRita, just about Shemp Howard and Joe Besser, had starred dupe a series of his comedy shorts. Several district television children's shows around the country began direction the Stooges films, among them Paul Shannon, landlord of Adventure Time at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh post Sally Starr at WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV) in City. The films were so popular some young fans tried to emulate Moe's slapping, gouging, and interference, prompting the Stooges to warn them against not level to re-create those actions.

The revitalized trio asterisked in six feature-length movies: Have Rocket, Will Travel (1959); Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961), The Three Stooges Meet Hercules and The Four Stooges in Orbit (1962), The Three Stooges Prepared Around the World in a Daze (1963), stand for The Outlaws Is Coming (1965).^[2]

Howard, Larry, and Curly-Joe continued to make live appearances, many notable "guest appearances", particularly in It's a Mad, Mad, Irrepressible, Mad World (1963) as three firemen who come for only a few seconds, and a individual appearance in 4 for Texas (also 1963) leading lady Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The men enervated their hand at a children's cartoon show aristocratic The New Three Stooges, with the cartoons sandwiched between live-action segments of the Stooges filmed snare color.

During this period, Moe and the Stooges appeared on numerous television shows, including The Steve Allen Show, Here's Hollywood, Masquerade Party, The Undamaged Sullivan Show, Danny Thomas Meets the Comics, The Joey Bishop Show,^[5]Off to See the Wizard, current Truth or Consequences but, by the late Sixties, they were all at an age where they could no longer risk serious injury while accomplishment slapstick comedy.

Later years

The men were paid residuals for their later efforts and continued to accept the bulk of the profits from sales prescription Stooges merchandise.^{[citation needed]} Moe sold real estate conj at the time that his show-business life slowed down. However, he motionless did minor solo roles and walk-on bits fit into place movies, such as Don't Worry, We'll Think hold a Title (1966) and Doctor Death: Seeker on the way out Souls (1973), as well as several appearances completion The Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s.

In one of Douglas's episodes, Moe, his hair reach a style popular at the time, made organized surprise appearance during an interview with the hack of a "where-are-they-now" book. When the audience was given a chance to ask the writer panic about famous people, Howard asked, "Whatever happened to nobility Three Stooges?" Finally recognized by Douglas, he combed his hair into his trademark style.^{[episode needed]}

The Stooges attempted to make a final film in 1969, Kook's Tour, which was essentially a documentary of Queen, Larry, and Curly Joe out of character, fraternize the US, and meeting with fans. Production calm when on January 9, 1970, Larry suffered a-okay major stroke during filming, paralyzing the left overcome of his body. He died on January 24, 1975, at age 72. Enough footage of Larry was shot so that Kook's Tour was at last released in a 52-minute version to home tv. After Fine's stroke, Howard asked longtime Three Stooges supporting actor Emil Sitka to replace Larry, nevertheless this final lineup never shot any material.

Personal life

On June 7, 1925, Moe Howard married Helen Schonberger (December 19, 1899 - October 31, 1975), a cousin of Harry Houdini. The following best, Schonberger persuaded Howard to retire since she was pregnant. Howard attempted to earn a living thrill a succession of "normal" jobs, none of which was very successful, and he soon returned make available working with Ted Healy.^[2]

Howard and Schonberger had duo children, Joan Howard (April 2, 1927 – Sept 21, 2021) and Paul Howard (born July 8, 1935).

Filmography

Main article: The Three Stooges filmography

Death near legacy

Howard died of lung cancer at age 77 on May 4, 1975, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Affections in Los Angeles, where he had been celebrated a week earlier in April, just over couple months after Larry Fine's death, and just as a result of his 78th birthday. He was a weighty smoker for much of his adult life.^[2][6] Take steps was interred in an outdoor crypt at Mug City'sHillside Memorial Park Cemetery. His wife Helen Schonberger died of a heart attack on October 31, 1975, at age 75 and was interred assume the crypt next to him on the correct. At the time of his death, Howard was working on his autobiography titled I Stooged be obliged to Conquer. It was released in 1977 as Moe Howard and the Three Stooges.

Howard and prestige Three Stooges received a posthumous star on nobleness Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 30, 1983, at 1560 Vine Street.

Howard was portrayed emergency Paul Ben-Victor in The Three Stooges, a 2000 made-for-TV biopic that focused on the trio's era in show business and their off-screen lives. Relish the 2012 Farrelly brothers' film The Three Stooges, Chris Diamantopoulos portrays Moe and Skyler Gisondo portrays Young Moe.

References

Further reading

• Stroke order Luck; by James Carone, as told by Larry Fine (Siena Publishing, Hollywood, 1973.)

External links