Curly Howard, whose real name was Jerome Horwitz, was probably the most popular of the Three Stooges. He was known as the "patsy" of the group; in other words, he took the blame for everything that went wrong, and he was so stupid that he didn't even realize it. He had a high-pitched, distinctive voice and often made sound effects such as "woob woob woob" and "nyuk nyuk nyuk" that are still quoted all these years later.
Curly was born on October 22, 1903 to Jennie and Solomon Horwitz, the youngest and fifth of the Horwitz brothers. Even as a young boy, Curly played the patsy role with his older brothers. His brothers Irving and Jack went on to other professions and never got involved in show business. Even as young boys, however, Moe, Shemp and Curly entertained people with neighborhood shows. Even then, Moe was the leader and Curly took the punishment.
School was not Curly's favorite activity; in fact, one of his favorite hobbies was playing hooky. It may come as a surprise to many, but Curly was an outstanding basketball player, the star of his team. He struggled through Hebrew School and was a C student.
Curly began his show business career as a comedy conductor in the Orville Knapp Band. When Shemp left Ted Healy's Stooges in the early 1930's, Curly wanted to take his place. Once Curly joined the Stooges, he suddenly became the star of the group and remained the favorite Stooge as long as his career lasted.
One time, while shooting one of their short subjects, The Boys put Curly on a spit over an open fire to thaw him out after he'd been frozen. Curly weighed more than 200 pounds and Moe and Larry couldn't turn the crank. As a result, Curly began to get burned. The straps then broke and Curly was hanging directly over the fire. It was a close call for Curly and the stage hands who had to rescue him.
In real life the Stooges' personalities were much like their screen ones. Curly was a warm and friendly man and was known for being extremely generous. Mousie Garner, who was one of Ted Healy's original Stooges, said, "Curly was a pretty fun-loving guy. He drank a lot, and he threw his money away; he loved to have a good time. And he was quite a talker. He was really a fun guy to be around -- just the opposite of the other two." 7
Curly was married for the first at age 17 to a woman whose identity is still unknown. Then in 1937 he married Elaine Ackerman and they had a daughter, Marilyn. They divorced and he married Marion Buchsbaum in 1945 but that marriage did not last either.
In 1946, Curly and the other Stooges were filming "Half-Wits' Holiday" when Curly suffered a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. He was unable to return to work and they finished the film without him.
Although his days as a Stooge were over, Curly still enjoyed life. He married Valerie Neuman, a nurse, in 1947 and they had a daughter named Jane in 1948.
After Curly's stroke, his brother Shemp replaced him in the act. Shemp thought it would be fun to have Curly make an appearance in one of their films. In "Hold That Lion," the Stooges' 100th short, Curly appears as a sleeping [passenger on a train. He has a clothespin on his nose and when Moe removes the clothespin, Curly does his famous snore. This brief cameo was his last appearance on film.
Sadly, Curly had several more strokes and finally, with his wife Valerie nearby, on January 18, 1952, Curly passed away.
Curly Howard, considered to be the funniest Stooge, was an inspiration to comedians decades later. Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Roseanne Barr and Bruce Willis all claim to have been influenced by Curly.
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