NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Shemp Howard

Shemp Howard (March 4, 1895 [1] – November 22, 1955) was part of the Three Stooges comedy team. Born Samuel Horwitz, he was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Jewish Lithuanian accent. He was the older brother of Moe Howard and "third stooge" in the early years of the act. He would rejoin the trio in May 1946, after youngest brother Jerome "Curly" Howard suffered a stroke. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Bensonhurst Embankment is a common walkway in Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the city of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that extends from Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to south boundary east of La Brea Avenue... is the 63rd day of the year (64th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the mid 20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Moe Howard (June 19, 1897 â€“ May 4, 1975) was the leader of the Three Stooges. ... Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester Horwitz) (October 22, 1903 â€“ January 18, 1952), was one of the Three Stooges, along with brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and their friend Larry Fine, although Curly was more or less the breakout character. ... For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ...

Shemp, along with his brother Moe, was born in Bensonhurst and Jerome (Curly), was born in Bath Beach a suburb of Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York. He was the third of the five Horwitz brothers and of Levite and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. Shemp played his somewhat homely appearance to comic effect, often mugging grotesquely or allowing his hair to fall in disarray. Notoriously phobic, his fears included airplanes, automobiles and water. Bensonhurst Embrakement is a common walkplace in (Bensonhurst) A spectacular view of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (Brooklyn College) Snow melting on one of the streets in Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a working class neighborhood located in the south-central part of New York City, USAs borough of Brooklyn. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... In the Jewish tradition, a Levite (×œÖµ×•Ö´×™ Attached, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. ... Lithuanian Jews (known in Yiddish and Haredi English as Litvish (adjective) or Litvaks (noun)) are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in Lita, a region including not only present-day Lithuania but also Latvia, much of Belarus and the northeastern SuwaÅ‚ki region of Poland. ... For other uses, see Phobia (disambiguation). ... Airplane and Aeroplane redirect here. ... Car redirects here. ...

Moe entered show business in the 1910s. Shemp followed him in 1922, as part of a slapstick vaudeville act known as Ted Healy's Stooges. In September 1925, Shemp married Gertrude Frank (28) a fellow New Yorker. They had only one child, a son, Morton (born 1926) who died in 1972. On stage, Healy would sing and tell jokes while his three noisy stooges (show-business slang for assistants) would get in his way. Healy would retaliate with physical and verbal abuse. Shemp played a bumbling fireman in the Stooges' first film, Soup to Nuts (1930), the only film in which he plays one of Ted Healy's gang. Healy was always the main attraction of the act, and his stooges were in constant disagreement with him over billing, money, and management. Tired of Healy's shenanigans, Shemp left Healy's act in 1932 to pursue a solo film career. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to create his own group of "stooges" in the Van Beuren musical comedy short Knife of the Party (1934). Ted Healy (October 1, 1896 â€“ December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer and actor. ... Soup to nuts is an English figurative expression (or idiom) conveying the meaning of from beginning to end. It is derived from the description of a complete meal, whose courses range from firstly Soup, to lastly Nuts. ... Ted Healy (October 1, 1896 â€“ December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer and actor. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Otherwise, Shemp Howard's solo career was very successful. He performed with such comic greats as Fatty Arbuckle, W.C. Fields, and the comedy team Abbott and Costello, all of whom would reportedly trim his scene-stealing material. He also lent comic relief to Charlie Chan and Thin Man murder mysteries, and was hilarious in several Universal B-musicals of the early 1940s, among them Strictly In The Groove, How's About It? Moonlight And Cactus, and San Antonio Rose, in which he is paired with Lon Chaney Jr. as a faux Abbott & Costello. In most of these, his improvisational skills are highlighted. He was briefly teamed with comedians Billy Gilbert and Maxie Rosenbloom for three B-comedy features in 1944-45. He also played a few dramatic roles, such as his small role in the John Wayne film Pittsburgh in 1942. Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 â€“ June 29, 1933) was an American silent film comedian. ... W. C. Fields (January 29, 1880 - December 25, 1946) was an American comedian and actor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 1938 titlecard Number One Son with the seat of his pants on fire in Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers, reportedly in part under inspiration from the career of Chang Apana. ... DVD cover The Thin Man is the title of the first of six comic detective films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a hard-drinking and flirtatious married couple who banter wittily as they easily solve crimes. ... Lon Chaney, Jr. ... Billy Gilbert was an American comedian and actor most known for his odd and unusual sneeze routines. ... Maxie Rosenbloom, born September 6, 1903 in Harlem, New York City, United States – died March 6, 1976 in South Pasadena, California, was a boxing champion and film actor. ... For other persons named John Wayne, see John Wayne (disambiguation). ... Pittsburgh is a 1942 Western film directed by Lewis Seiler. ...

Since 1939, Shemp had been appearing frequently in Columbia's two-reel comedies, co-starring with Columbia regulars Andy Clyde, The Glove Slingers, El Brendel, and Tom Kennedy. Howard was given his own starring series in 1944; he was working for Columbia in this capacity when his brother Curly was felled by a debilitating stroke in 1946. Shemp reluctantly replaced Curly in Columbia's popular Stooge shorts. Initially, Shemp rejoined the Stooges on a temporary basis until Curly recovered, but as Curly's condition worsened, it became apparent that Shemp's association with the Stooges would be permanent. (Prior to replacing Curly on film, Shemp had substituted for his brother in some personal appearances in the early 1940s.) This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... El Brendel, Circa 1930. ...

Shemp is often compared to Curly, but his comedic stylings were unique, and some fans even prefer his gruff, wisecracking comic style over Curly's brand of silliness. Shemp appeared with Moe and Larry in 73 short subjects and the feature film Gold Raiders (1951). He suffered a mild stroke in November 1952, though without noticeable effect on his remaining films with the Stooges (largely remakes of earlier films that recycled footage to reduce costs). Some fans, however, contend that in these later cheapies, Shemp looks weak, pale, and even disoriented. Moe Howard (June 19, 1897 â€“ May 4, 1975) was the leader of the Three Stooges. ... Larry Fine (October 5, 1902 â€“ January 24, 1975) was an American comedian and actor, who is best-known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges. ... Gold Raiders is a 1951 comedy film directed by Edward Bernds and writtten by William Lively and Elwood Ullman. ... For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ...

While returning home by taxicab from a boxing match on November 22, 1955, Shemp died of a massive heart attack. Shemp was lighting a cigar after telling a joke when he suddenly slumped over in his friend Al Winston's lap. Although Moe Howard claimed in his autobiography that Shemp died on November 23,1955 and most accounts point to that date, the Los Angeles county coroner death certificate states that Shemp Howard died on Tuesday November 22,1955 at 11:35 PST. He is interred at the Home of Peace Memorial Park in East Los Angeles. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... Heart attack redirects here. ... Intersection of Eagle Rock Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard. ...

In 1985, his surviving widow Gertrude Howard requested that Shemp's remains be exhumed. A second autopsy revealed that Shemp died from massive opaque plaque buildup in his arteries. In Paul "Mousie" Garner's 1985 biography of the Three Stooges, co-written by Joan Howard Maurer, Gertrude is quoted as saying that after his mild stroke in 1952, Shemp was prescribed an unknown heart medication despite never being otherwise treated for a heart problem.

Columbia had promised exhibitors eight Three Stooges comedies for 1956, but only four were completed when Shemp died. To fulfill the contract, producer Jules White manufactured four more shorts by reusing old footage of Shemp and filming new connecting scenes with a double (longtime Stooge supporting actor Joe Palma), seen mostly from the back. The re-edited films range from clever to blatantly patchy, and Stooge fans often dismiss them as the "fake Shemps." Rumpus in the Harem borrows from Malice in the Palace, Hot Stuff from Fuelin' Around, Commotion on the Ocean from Dunked in the Deep. The best (and most technically accomplished) is Scheming Schemers, combining new footage with recycled clips from three old Stooge shorts: A Plumbing We Will Go, Half-Wits Holiday, and Vagabond Loafers. Jules White (born Jules Weiss on 17 September 1900 in Budapest, Hungary, died 30 April 1985 in Van Nuys, California) was a movie director and producer of the silent film era. ... The term someone is credited with who appears in a film under heavy make-up, filmed from the back, or perhaps only showing an arm or a foot. ...

When it was time to renew the Stooges' contract, Columbia hired comedian Joe Besser to replace Shemp. After 16 films, Columbia replaced Joe by (in a sense) bringing back Shemp. Columbia kept the series going into the 1960s by reissuing Shemp's Stooge comedies. Thus Shemp Howard remained a popular movie star for more than a decade after his death. Joe Besser (August 12, 1907 â€“ March 1, 1988) was an American comedian, known for his impish humor, and is now best remembered for his brief stint as part of the Three Stooges. ...

In a 2000 TV-movie, Shemp was played by John Kassir. Johnny Kassir (born October 24, 1957 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American actor, voice actor, and comedian who has been active in many facets of entertainment since 1984. ...

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