Curly Howard - WikiHQ

Jerome Howard (born Jerome Lester Horwitz; October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He was a member of The Three Stooges comedy team, which also featured his elder brothers Moe and Shemp Howard, as well as vaudevillian Larry Fine. In early shorts, he was billed as "Curley". He was generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. An untrained actor, Curly borrowed (and significantly exaggerated) the "woo woo" from "nervous" comedian Hugh Herbert. Curly's unique version of "woo, woo, woo" was firmly established by the time of the Stooges' second Columbia film, Punch Drunks (1934). His full formal Hebrew name was "Yehudah Leib bar Shlomo Natan HaLevi".

A quiet child, Howard rarely caused problems for his parents (something in which older brothers Moe and Shemp excelled). He was a mediocre student, but excelled as an athlete on the school basketball team. He did not graduate high school; instead, he kept himself busy with odd jobs and constantly following his older brothers, whom he idolized. He was also an accomplished ballroom dancer and singer, and regularly turned up at the Triangle Ballroom in Queens, occasionally bumping into actor George Raft.

Shemp Howard, however, soon tired of Healy's abrasiveness, bad temper, and alcoholism. Healy felt that Jerry, with his thick, chestnut hair and elegant waxed mustache, looked too good for a low comedian. Howard left the room and returned minutes later with his head shaven (the mustache remained very briefly). Moe and Larry started improvising with this new character:

:Moe: Hey, Curly!

:Larry: What did you call him?

:Moe: Curly.

:Larry: That's all right. I thought you said girlie!

That exchange sold the act to Healy, and Jerry Horwitz became Curly Howard. In one of the few interviews Curly Howard gave in his lifetime, he complained about the loss of his hair: "I had to shave it off right down to the skin." Healy agreed, and left to pursue his own career. That same year, with "The Three Stooges" as the act's new name, they signed to appear in two-reel comedy short subjects for Columbia Pictures. Their third short, Men in Black, was nominated for the "Best Short Subject" Academy Award. It lost to the pioneer Technicolor featurette La Cucaracha, but it did establish The Three Stooges as new comedy stars. It also won the Stooges movie-star salaries: Columbia paid each of them $2,500 per short subject (an exceptional sum; Columbia usually paid $500 to $1,000 per short). The Stooges soon became the studio's most popular short-subject attraction, with Curly playing an integral part in the trio's work.

By the time the Stooges hit their peak in the late 1930s, their films had almost become vehicles for Curly Howard's unbridled comic performances. Such Stooge classics as A Plumbing We Will Go (1940), We Want Our Mummy (1938), An Ache in Every Stake (1941), and Cactus Makes Perfect (1942) display his ability to take inanimate objects (food, tools, pipes, etc.) and turn them into ingenious comic props.

Howard also developed a set of Brooklyn-accented reactions and expressions that the other Stooges would imitate long after he had left the act:

"Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" – his trademark laugh, accompanied by manic finger-snapping (snapping your fingers before cupping your hand and slapping the other hand down), often used to amuse himself
"Woo, woo, woo!" – cheering used when he was either happy, scared, dazed, or flirting with a "dame"
"Hmmm!" – an under-the-breath, high-pitched sound meant to express frustration
"Nyahh-ahhh-ahhh!" – a scared reaction, which was most often used by the other Stooges after Curly's departure
"Lah-dee" or simply "La, la, laaa" – his singing used when he was acting innocently right before taking out an enemy
"Ruff! Ruff!" – a dog bark, used to express anger, showing defiance, barking at an attractive dame, and/or giving an enemy a final push before departing the scene
"Ha-cha-cha!" – a take on Jimmy Durante's catchphrase
"I'm a victim of soikemstance [circumstance]!" – used to deflect blame from himself
"Soitenly!" ("certainly")
"I'll moider (murder) you!"
"Huff huff huff!" – sharp, huffing exhales either due to excitement or meant to provoke a foe
"Ah-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!" – a sort of nonsense, high-pitched yelling that signified being scared or overly excited, which was used during his later years
"Indubitably" – an expression used to feign an intelligent response
Nervous teeth chattering, which made the sound of a small hammer striking a chisel
"Oh! A WISE guy, eh?" – an annoyed response
"Oh, look!" – a surprised remark, usually pointing out a saw or hammer which was damaged when it came into contact with his hard head.
"Say a few syllables!" – to another (injured) Stooge, usually Moe
Occasionally, the Stooges faced a problem that required deep thought, whereupon Curly would bang his head on a wall several times, then shout, "I got it! I got it!" Moe would ask, "What have you got?" Curly's answer: "A terrific headache."
Despite his mispronunciations, he had an uncanny ability to instantly spell big words, such as "chrysanthemum", if asked. The gag was that Curly never did it when something important was at stake. In one scene, the Stooges were in a situation where this talent might have landed them a job, but Curly had missed his opportunity. Moe's reaction would be to growl, "Where were you a minute ago?" and then smack him.

On several occasions, Moe Howard was convinced that rising star Lou Costello (a close friend of Shemp's) was stealing material from his brother.

Curly was the only "third Stooge" who never made a series of his short films without Moe or Larry, either before joining the Stooges or after leaving. Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRita (referred to during his tenure with the Stooges as "Curly-Joe") each starred as solo comedians in theatrical short subjects.

Illness

Decline

By 1944, Curly Howard's energy began to wane. His performances in films such as Idle Roomers (1944) and Booby Dupes (1945) present a Curly whose voice was deeper and his actions were slower. It was believed that Howard suffered the first of several strokes between the production of Idiots Deluxe (October 1944) and If a Body Meets a Body (March 1945). During Curly's illness, producer-director Jules White salvaged an incomplete Curly performance by inserting sequences from an older film; Beer Barrel Polecats (1945) borrowed from So Long Mr. Chumps (1940). Following the completion of the feature-length Rockin' in the Rockies (December 1944), Moe Howard persuaded Curly to seek medical attention. He was admitted to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, on January 23, 1945. There, he received diagnoses of severe hypertension, retinal hemorrhage, and obesity, necessitating a period of rest. Consequently, only five short films were released in 1945, a notable reduction from the usual six to eight per year.

In August 1945 the Stooges appeared in a Gale Storm musical feature, Swing Parade of 1946, co-produced at Monogram Pictures by the Stooges' agent, Harry A. Romm. Curly appears healthier and more animated than in his concurrent Columbia shorts, but from then on his health would fluctuate from film to film.

Despite Moe Howard's appeals to Harry Cohn to grant his brother an extended leave to recuperate, Cohn refused to disrupt the production schedule of the profitable Stooges shorts.

1946 stroke

thumb|Curly as the cook, in a still from Curly's cut scene in [[Malice in the Palace in 1949]]

Half-Wits Holiday, released in 1947, was Howard's final appearance as an official member of The Three Stooges. During filming on May 6, 1946, he suffered a severe stroke while sitting in director Jules White's chair, waiting to film the last scene. 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, who had 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. Howard spent several weeks at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills before returning home for further recovery. After Curly's stroke, Shemp agreed to replace him in the Columbia shorts, but only until his younger brother was well enough to rejoin the act. An extant copy of the Stooges' 1947 Columbia Pictures contract was signed by all four Stooges and stipulated that Shemp's joining "in place and stead of Jerry Howard" would be only temporary until Curly recovered sufficiently to return to work full-time.

Curly Howard, partially recovered and with his hair regrown, made a brief cameo appearance in January 1947 as a train passenger barking in his sleep in the third film after brother Shemp's return, Hold That Lion! (1947). It was the only film that featured Larry Fine and all three Howard brothers – Moe, Shemp, and Curly – simultaneously; director White later said he spontaneously staged the bit during Curly's impromptu visit to the soundstage: "It was a spur-of-the-moment idea. Curly was visiting the set; this was sometime after his stroke. Apparently he came in on his own, since I didn't see a nurse with him. He was sitting around, reading a newspaper. As I walked in, the newspaper he had in front of his face came down and he waved hello to me. I thought it would be funny to have him do a bit in the picture and he was happy to do it."

Retirement

Still not fully recovered from his stroke, Howard met Valerie Newman and married her on July 31, 1947. A friend, Irma Leveton, later recalled, "Valerie was the only decent thing that happened to Curly and the only one that really cared about him."

Later that year, Howard suffered a second massive stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. He used a wheelchair by 1950 and was fed boiled rice and apples as part of his diet to reduce his weight (and blood pressure). Curly's condition failed to improve. Valerie admitted him into the Motion Picture & Television Fund's Country House and Hospital on August 29, 1950. He was released after several months of treatment and medical tests, although he returned periodically until his death. He lived the shortest life of the Stooges, dying at the age of 48. He was given a Jewish funeral and was buried at the Western Jewish Institute section of Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California.

Moe urged Curly to find himself a wife, hoping it would persuade his brother to finally settle down and allow his health to improve somewhat. After a two-week courtship, he married Marion Buxbaum on October 17, 1945, a union that lasted nine months. The divorce proceeding was bitter, exacerbated by exploitative, sensationalist media coverage, which worsened his already fragile health. The divorce was finalized in July 1946, two months after he suffered his career-ending stroke. Curly's mannerisms, behavior, and personality along with his catchphrases have become a part of American popular culture. Steve Allen called him one of the "few true but seldom recognized comedy geniuses." In the film; Curly was played by Michael Chiklis.

In the 2012 Farrelly brothers' film The Three Stooges, Will Sasso portrays Curly Howard. Robert Capron portrays young Curly.
In the children's novel series Captain Underpants and its film adaptation, the elementary school that the main characters attend is named Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, in Howard's honor.
One of Curly's grandsons, Bradley Server, performs at Stooge tribute shows under the moniker "Curly G", and has a YouTube channel named "Curly's Grandson".

Filmography

Features

All are guest appearances except the compilation feature Stop! Look! and Laugh!; the Stooges never starred in their own feature film during Curly Howard's lifetime.

Turn Back the Clock (1933)
Broadway to Hollywood (1933)
Meet the Baron (1933)
Dancing Lady (1933)
Myrt and Marge (1933)
Fugitive Lovers (1934)
Hollywood Party (1934)
The Captain Hates the Sea (1934)
Start Cheering (1938)
Time Out for Rhythm (1941)
My Sister Eileen (1942)
Good Luck, Mr. Yates (1943) (scenes deleted but included in Gents Without Cents)
Rockin' in the Rockies (1945)
Swing Parade of 1946 (1946)
Stop! Look! and Laugh! (1960) (scenes from Stooge shorts)

Short subjects

Nertsery Rhymes (1933)
Beer and Pretzels (1933)
Hello Pop! (1933)
Plane Nuts (1933)
Roast Beef and Movies (1934)
Jail Birds of Paradise (1934)
Hollywood on Parade # B-9 (1934)
Woman Haters (1934) (*credited as "Curley")
The Big Idea (1934)
Punch Drunks (1934) (*credited as "Curley")
Men in Black (1934)
Three Little Pigskins (1934)
Horses' Collars (1935)
Restless Knights (1935)
Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 6 (1935)
Pop Goes the Easel (1935)
Uncivil Warriors (1935)
Pardon My Scotch (1935)
Hoi Polloi (1935)
Three Little Beers (1935)
Ants in the Pantry (1936)
Movie Maniacs (1936)
Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 7 (1936)
Half Shot Shooters (1936)
Disorder in the Court (1936)
A Pain in the Pullman (1936)
False Alarms (1936)
Whoops, I'm an Indian! (1936)
Slippery Silks (1936)
Grips, Grunts and Groans (1937)
Dizzy Doctors (1937)
Three Dumb Clucks (1937)
Back to the Woods (1937)
Goofs and Saddles (1937)
Cash and Carry (1937)
Playing the Ponies (1937)
The Sitter Downers (1937)
Termites of 1938 (1938)
Wee Wee Monsieur (1938)
Tassels in the Air (1938)
Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb (1938)
Violent Is the Word for Curly (1938)
Three Missing Links (1938)
Mutts to You (1938)
Flat Foot Stooges (1938)
Three Little Sew and Sews (1939)
We Want Our Mummy (1939)
A Ducking They Did Go (1939)
Screen Snapshots: Stars on Horseback (1939)
Yes, We Have No Bonanza (1939)
Saved by the Belle (1939)
Calling All Curs (1939)
Oily to Bed, Oily to Rise (1939)
Three Sappy People (1939)
You Nazty Spy! (1940)
Screen Snapshots: Art and Artists (1940)
Rockin' thru the Rockies (1940)
A Plumbing We Will Go (1940)
Nutty But Nice (1940)
How High Is Up? (1940)
From Nurse to Worse (1940)
No Census, No Feeling (1940)
Cookoo Cavaliers (1940)
Boobs in Arms (1940)
So Long Mr. Chumps (1941)
Dutiful But Dumb (1941)
All the World's a Stooge (1941)
I'll Never Heil Again (1941)
An Ache in Every Stake (1941)
In the Sweet Pie and Pie (1941)
Some More of Samoa (1941)
Loco Boy Makes Good (1942)
What's the Matador? (1942)
Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)
Matri-Phony (1942)
Three Smart Saps (1942)
Even as IOU (1942)
Sock-a-Bye Baby (1942)
They Stooge to Conga (1943)
Dizzy Detectives (1943)
Spook Louder (1943)
Back from the Front (1943)
Three Little Twirps (1943)
Higher Than a Kite (1943)
I Can Hardly Wait (1943)
Dizzy Pilots (1943)
Phony Express (1943)
A Gem of a Jam (1943)
Crash Goes the Hash (1944)
Busy Buddies (1944)
The Yoke's on Me (1944)
Idle Roomers (1944)
Gents Without Cents (1944)
No Dough Boys (1944)
Three Pests in a Mess (1945)
Booby Dupes (1945)
Idiots Deluxe (1945)
If a Body Meets a Body (1945)
Micro-Phonies (1945)
Beer Barrel Polecats (1946)
A Bird in the Head (1946)
Uncivil War Birds (1946)
The Three Troubledoers (1946)
Monkey Businessmen (1946)
Three Loan Wolves (1946)
G.I. Wanna Home (1946)
Rhythm and Weep (1946)
Three Little Pirates (1946)
Half-Wits Holiday (1947)
Hold That Lion! (1947) (cameo appearance)
Malice in the Palace (1949) (cameo appearance, deleted)
Booty and the Beast (1953, recycled footage from Hold That Lion!, posthumous release)

References

Notes

External links

Curly Howard at The Three Stooges Official Website
Three Stooges Sued by Curly's Widow