Moe

Curly

Shemp

Moe

Moe Howard, the originator of the stooges, was born Moses Horowitz on June 19, 1897, in Bensonhurst, New York, a small Jewish community on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Moe's mother's name was Jennie Horwitz, and his father was clothing cutter Solomon Horwitz. Moe was the fourth eldest of five Howard brothers. Moe graduated from P.S. 163 in Brooklyn. He attended Erasmus High School for only two months and never completed his high school education. To please his parents he took a class in electric shop at the Baron DeHirsch Trade School in New York. Moe's true love, however, was the theater. In 1909 at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn he earned his entry into film making by running errands for the performers. On June 7, 1925, Moe married Helen Schonberger, who was a cousin of the late Harry Houdini. In 1934, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerome Curly Howard, signed on with Columbia Studios as The Three Stooges to make the comedy shorts that are still viewed on television today. In 1958, Moe and Larry joined Joe DeRita to continue The Three Stooges act until Larry suffered a stroke during the filming of "Kook's Tour" in 1970. Moe has two children, Joan and Paul. Moe passed away on May 4, 1975 at the age of seventy eight. Read more...->


Curly

Curly Howard's real name was Jerome Lester Horwitz. He was born to Jenny and Solomon Horwitz on October 22, 1903 in Bath Beach, a summer resort in a section of Brooklyn. He was the fifth and youngest of the five Horwitz brothers. Curly's interest in show business grew as he watched his brothers, Shemp and Moe perform as stooges in Ted Healy's act. After Shemp left the Healy act, Moe suggested to Healy that his kid brother Jerome was known as "Babe." When Babe showed up to talk to Healy to join the act he had long wavy brown hair and a mustache. In order to join the act Babe agreed to shave off his mustache and shave his head. Now referred to as Curly, he joined the team and played with the Stooges in vaudeville acts and comedy shorts for MGM. Later, in 1934, Curly along with Larry and Moe performed in many of the shorts that were produced for Columbia Pictures. After Curly's first marriage was annulled, he married three more times. On June 7, 1937 he married Elaine Ackerman. In 1938, Elaine gave birth to Curly's first child, a daughter, Marilyn. Elaine and Curly divorced on July 11, 1940 after only 3 years of marriage. On October 17, 1945, Curly married Marion Buxbaum. After a miserable three months of arguments and accusations, Marion and Curly separated on January 14, 1946, and Curly sued for divorce. This divorce was quite scandalous and notices were carried in all the local papers. It was after his separation from Marion that Curly's health started its rapid decline. On May 6, 1946, he suffered a stroke during the filming of his 97th Three Stooges comedy, "Half-Wits' Holiday" (1947). A year later Curly met Valerie Newman, whom he married on July 31, 1947. Valerie was Curly's fourth wife, and she nursed him through those last, awful years. Valerie gave birth to a daughter, Janie. Finally, in 1949, Curly's health took a severe turn for the worse when he suffered his second in a series of strokes and was rushed to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood. Curly died on January 18, 1952. He was 48 years old. Read more...->


Shemp

Shemp was born Samuel Horwitz in Brooklyn, New York on March 17, 1895. He acquired the name "Shemp" when his mother, with her broad European accent, would call him "Sam," which sounded like "Shemp." Shemp graduated from P.S. 163 in Brooklyn. Shemp enrolled along with Moe at the Baron De Hirsch Trade School in New York where he took up plumbing and Moe studied to be an electrician. Shemp, like his brother Moe, had ambitions to be an entertainer and work with him in various amateur and vaudeville acts. In 1930 Shemp went with Ted Healy, Moe and Larry to co-star in "Soup to Nuts." A short time later, Healy left the JJ Shubert Broadway review, taking Moe and Larry with him. Shemp decided to stay with the show. On his own, Shemp went on to star in countless comedies for Vitaphone in 1932, and he later played the role of Knobby Walsh in the Joe Palooka series. Shemp did feature film roles at RKO, MGM, and Monogram. In the 1940's he was given numerous roles in such Universal films as "Buck Privates," "The Bank Dick," and "Hellzapoppin!" After Curly had to leave the act because of his illness, Shemp become one of The Three Stooges. Shemp not only made 77 Stooge shorts, but also a feature film, "Gold Raiders" (1951). Shemp also appeared in the TV pilot "Jerks of All Trades." On November 23, 1955, Shemp went out with his friends Al Winston to a boxing match at the Hollywood Legion Stadium. After the fights were over, Shemp hailed a taxicab to take him to his North Hollywood home. Shemp set back and lit up his cigar. Suddenly he slumped over into Winston's lap. Shemp had a heart attack and was dead at the age of 60. Read more...->

Author: Eric Evans http://pcdesignswv.com/stooges/bio/download.html