Shemp Howard

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Shemp Howard

Born	March 4, 1895 Bensonhurst, New York
Died	November 22, 1955 at age 60 Hollywood, California

Samuel "Shemp Howard" Horwitz (March 4, 1895 [1] – November 22, 1955) was part of the Three Stooges comedy team. 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 again in 1946, after youngest brother Curly Howard suffered a stroke.

Shemp, along with brothers Moe and Jerome (Curly), was born in the 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 allowing his hair to fall in disarray or mugging grotesquely on film. Notoriously phobic, his fears included airplanes, automobiles, and water.

Moe entered show business in the 1910s, and Shemp followed him in 1922, as part of a slapstick vaudeville act known as Ted Healy's Stooges. On stage, Healy's three noisy assistants would get in his way, and Healy would retaliate with physical abuse. The "stooges" were in constant disagreements with Healy over billing, money, and management. 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. Tired of Healy's shenanigans, Shemp left Healy's act in 1932 to pursue a solo career in film. He attempted, unsuccessfully, to create his own group of "stooges" in the Van Beuren musical comedy short Knife of the Party (1934).

Otherwise Shemp Howard's solo career turned out to be very successful, as Shemp 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 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.

Since 1939 Shemp had been appearing regularly in Columbia's two-reel comedies, either as a supporting player, co-star, or star. In 1946, he reluctantly replaced his brother Curly in Columbia's popular Stooge shorts. Initially, Shemp rejoined the Stooges on a temporary basis until Curly recovered from a debilitating stroke. However, 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 filled in for his brother for some personal appearances in the early 1940s.)

For Crimin' Out Loud (released posthumously in 1956) was the last film featuring new footage of Shemp (far right).

Shemp is often compared to Curly, but his comedic stylings were also 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). Shemp suffered a mild stroke in 1952, which appeared to have only a minor effect in some of his last films with the Stooges (largely remakes of earlier films that reused footage to save costs). Some fans, however, contend that in these later cheapies, Shemp looks weak, pale, and even disoriented.

While returning home from a boxing match in a cab on November 22, 1955, Shemp died of a massive heart attack (according to his death certificate; his family maintains he died of a cerebral hemorrhage). Legend has it that Shemp was lighting a cigar after telling a joke, and then suddenly slumped over in his friend Al Winston's lap. Shemp was 60 years of age.

Columbia 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. These re-edited films (Rumpus in the Harem, Hot Stuff, Scheming Schemers, and Commotion on the Ocean) range from clever to blatantly patchy, and Stooge fans often dismiss them as the "fake Shemps." When it was time to renew the Stooges' contract, Columbia hired comedian Joe Besser to replace Shemp.

In a 2000 TV movie, Shemp was played by John Kassir.

[edit] See also

Fake shemp

[edit] Further reading

Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [2], (Citadel Press, 1977).
The Columbia Comedy Shorts; by Ted Okuda with Edward Watz [3], (McFarland, 1986).
The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon [4], (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [5](Citadel Press, 1994).
The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [6](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [7], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).