Left to right: Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Moe Howard
May 6, 1946: Jerry Howard suffers a massive stroke. This is the beginning of the end for The Three Stooges.
The classic lineup of the Stooges is usually listed as "Moe, Larry and Curly":
* Moses Harry Horwitz, born June 19, 1897 in Brooklyn. Moe was the unquestioned leader of the group, famous for his bowl haircut and his bullying of the other two.
* Louis Feinberg, born October 5, 1902 in Philadelphia. He changed his name to Larry Fine. He was known for going bald, but his remaining hair (red, not that this could be determined on black & white film) was wild and all over the place. He was known for his distinctive "Hello!" and playing the violin for comedic effect, like his contemporaries Jack Benny and Henny Youngman.
Film critic Leonard Maltin wrote, "Larry is the least distinctive character of the trio, but he adds a pleasing touch by siding with either Moe or Curly, depending on the situation, thereby enabling him to show moments of lucidity as well as lunacy."
* Jerome Lester Horwitz, born October 22, 1903 in Brooklyn. Just 5-foot-5 and well overweight, Moe's younger brother was, unlike the other two, known not for his hairstyle but for his lack of one, as he shaved his head.
He had a high-pitched voice, and made no effort to hide his Brooklyn accent: "Certainly" became "Soitenly!" Another catchphrase was, "I'm a victim of circumstance!" which became "soi-kem-stance!" He also developed the vocalizations, "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!" and "Woob-woob-woob!" Long before the 1970s pratfalls of Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live and John Ritter on Three's Company, he was the prime physical comic of his era, throwing his body around in all sorts of ways.
Jerry/Curly was Moe's younger brother, and they had another brother in show business, whom I'll get to in a moment. There were 2 other brothers, Benjamin (known as Jack) and Irving, who didn't get involved in show business.
The act began in 1929, when Larry, already involved in vaudeville, met Samuel Horwitz, born March 11, 1895 in Brooklyn. In their mother's heavy Lithuanian-Jewish, or "Litvak," accent, "Sam" became "Shemp," and that's what he was always called. Shemp introduced Moe and Larry to each other, and they became the comic relief to an entertainer named Ted Healy: "Ted Healy's Stooges."
In 1930, they had an argument with Healy, and went their own way. They reconciled with Healy in 1932, but the following year, Shemp decided he'd had enough of Healy, and left. Jerry was brought in, but Healy thought Jerry's look was all wrong: At the time, he had thick hair and a waxed mustache. Given his shape, he looked a bit like Oliver Hardy of Laurel & Hardy. So Jerry shaved off all the hair, mustache included -- and hated it -- and, like so many other bald men, was nicknamed Curly. (It could have been worse: Being fat, he could have been called Slim.)
In 1934, Healy left the Stooges, because he thought a solo career would make him more money. He was wrong: The Three Stooges did better without him than he did without them. Their Columbia Pictures "comedy shorts," films lasting maybe 15 to 20 minutes, were played before main feature films, and became enormously popular. When television began, they fit neatly into half-hour programming blocks, and the Stooges became TV stars.
The problem was, much of the humor involved the Stooges being violent to one another, especially Moe slapping Curly. It began to impact his health, much as repeated punches hurt the brains of boxers, and repeated collisions hurt those of football players. And when brain injuries happen, they can affect the health of other organs. So can obesity and alcohol intake: Between the head trauma, being well overweight, and prodigious drinking, Curly never had a chance.
In November 1943, they filmed Idle Roomers. For the first time, Curly's voice seemed noticeably deeper, and he also seemed a little slower. He may already have had what would be considered a "minor stroke." There's no such thing. In December 1944, they filmed Rockin' in the Rockies, a feature-length film. Moe insisted that Larry check himself into a hospital. He did so on January 23, 1945, and was diagnosed with extreme hypertension.
Moe went to Columbia boss Harry Cohn, considered one of the meanest and cheapest men in show business, and asked him to give Jerry some time off after his hospital release. But the shorts were making a great deal of money, which was a big deal during World War II. Normally making 6 to 8 "shorts" per year, they only made 5 in 1945, and that had nothing to do with wartime restrictions.
The Stooges were given some time off, starting in August 1945. They used that time to book a two-month live performance commitment in New York City, working shows 7 days a week. Returning to Los Angeles in late November, Jerry's voice had become even more coarse than before, and remembering even the simplest dialogue was increasingly difficult. He had lost considerable weight, but instead of making him look better, this made him look considerably older than his 42 years.
On May 6, 1946, the Stooges were filming Half-Wits Holiday. Curly was sitting in the chair used by Jules White, who directed most of their shorts, waiting to film the last scene of the day. When called by the assistant director to take the stage, he did not answer. Moe looked for his brother; he found him with his head dropped to his chest. Moe later recalled that his mouth was distorted, and he was unable to speak, only able to cry.
Moe immediately alerted White, leading the latter to rework the scene quickly, dividing the action between Moe and Larry while Curly was rushed to the hospital, where Moe joined him after the filming. Jerry was diagnosed as having suffered a stroke.
Brother Shemp was called back in. Harry Cohn was so cheap (How cheap was he?), he decided to save money on scriptwriting by basically reshooting old Stooges films with Shemp taking the Curly role. Aside from brief cameos in Hold That Lion! and Malice in the Palace, the only films with all 4 Stooges, Jerry never acted again.
He suffered another stroke in 1948, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a nursing home. Another stroke, in 1951, left him with the mind of a child, and he became a problem to the nursing home's staff. Jerry Howard died on January 18, 1952, only 48 years old. He was survived by his 4th wife, Valerie Newman; and 2 daughters, Marilyn and Janie.
Shemp didn't suffer nearly the physical trauma that Jerry did, but still had a stroke of his own in 1951. He seemed to fully recover. But on November 22, 1955, he had a heart attack in a taxi while returning from a boxing card in Los Angeles. He was 60.
He was replaced by Joe Besser, a comedian from St. Louis who bore a resemblance to Jerry. But he didn't work out, and was a Stooge only from 1956 to 1958. He lived until 1988, age 80. He was replaced by Joe DeRita, a comedian from Philadelphia who was billed as "Curly Joe," and remained with the act to the end, and later said it was the best time of his life.
The end came with another stroke, suffered by Larry in 1970. Larry died on January 24, 1975, at 72. Moe died on May 4, 1975, at 77. So, by the time I was old enough to know who the Three Stooges were, Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp were already dead. Joe DeRita lived until July 3, 1993, at 83, the last remaining Stooge.
In 2000, Stooges fan Mel Gibson produced a TV-movie for ABC, The Three Stooges. Moe was played by Paul Ben-Victor, Larry by Evan Handler, Curly by Michael Chiklis, Shemp by John Kassir, Joe Besser by Laurence Coy, Joe DeRita by Peter Callan, Ted Healy by Marton Csokas, Jules White by Lewis Fitz-Gerald, and Harry Cohn by Linal Haft.
Filmmaking brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly had long wanted to make a Stooges film, not a biopic or remake, but instead new Three Stooges episodes set in the present day. Their 2012 film The Three Stooges is broken up into three continuous episodes that revolves around the Stooges characters. Moe was played by Chris Diamantopoulos, Larry by Sean Hayes, and Curly by Will Sasso. There was no Shemp analogue.
*
May 6, 1946 was a Monday. There were 5 baseball games played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Thornton Lee outpitched Bill Bevens. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-4.
* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Browns, 7-5 and 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Over the 2 games, Ted Williams went 6-for-7 with 3 walks and 3 RBIs. He ended the day batting .411. He finished the season at .342, and didn't even win the American League batting title, although he did lead the AL in on-base percentage and slugging percentage, hit 38 home runs, and had 123 RBIs. He won his 1st Most Valuable Player award, and the Red Sox won the Pennant for the only time in his career.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Hank Greenberg went 2-for-3 with a walk.
* And the Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-4 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
No comments:
Post a Comment