The Life and Sad Ending® of Curly Howard

curly Howard was born Jerome Lester Horowitz on  October 22nd 1903 in Brooklyn New York born of   Lithuanian Jewish ancestry he was the youngest  of the five Horwitz brothers because of being   the youngest his brothers called him babe to  tease him the name babe stuck with him all his   life he was a quiet child who was an average  student babe was a good athlete and played on   the school basketball team he didn't graduate  from high school but kept himself busy with odd   jobs he was also an accomplished ballroom dancer  and singer and regularly visited the Triangle   Ballroom in Brooklyn curly was interested in show  business and would watch his brothers Mon Shem   perform as Stooges and Ted Healy's vaudeville  act always a ladies man he was married three   times Curly's first showbiz break was as a comedy  musical conductor in 1928 for the Orville Knapp   band though curly enjoyed the gig he watched his  older brothers Moe and Shemp and partner Larry   fine make it Vic as some of Ted Healy Stooges  vaudeville star Ted Healy had a very popular   stage act in which he would try to tell jokes  are saying only to have the Stooges wander on the   stage and interrupt her heckle him Shemp however  disliked Healy's bad temper and heavy drinking in   1932 Shemp was offered a contract at the Vitaphone  studios in Brooklyn and left the group with Shemp   gone most suggested that babe fill the role of  the third stooge but Healy didn't like babe's   look complaining that he didn't look funny when  he shaved his head eel equipped boy don't you look   girlie MoMA's heard the joke as curly his stage  name naturally became then curly in 1934 Healy   left the group to pursue a solo movie career  they renamed the act the Three Stooges that   same year they signed on with Columbia Pictures  the Stooges soon became the most popular short   subject performers in the history of film turning  themselves into comedy legends over the many years   by 1944 Curly's energy began to wane he checked  himself into the hospital in early 1945 and was   diagnosed with extreme high blood pressure a  retinal hemorrhage and obesity his hell forced   him to rest and he lost considerable amount of  weightt half-wits holiday would be Curly's final   appearance as an official member of the Stooges  during filming in May of 1946 Curley suffered   a severe stroke while sitting in director Jules  White's chair waiting to film the last scene of   the day when Curley was called by the assistant  director to take the stage he did not answer well   went looking for his brother and he found Curley  with his head dropped to his chest Moe later   recalled that his mouth was distorted and he was  unable to speak only cry Curley was rushed to the   hospital where mode joined him after the filming  Curley spent several weeks in the hospital before   returning home after Curley stroke Shemp agreed  to replace him in the Columbia shorts but only   until his brother was well enough to rejoin the  act Curley partially recovered and with his hair   regrown made a brief cameo appearance as a train  passenger barking in asleep hold that line in   1947 and it was the only film that featured Larry  fine in all three Howard brothers Mose Shemp and   Curley at the same time still not fully recovered  from his stroke Curley met and Valerie Newman and   married her on July 31st 1947 although his health  continued to decline after their marriage Valerie   gave birth to a daughter Janie in 1948 and the  post-stroke days Curley enjoyed playing gin   rummy and watching the Hollywood stars a local  basketball team he and Valerie had a swing pool   installed at their home so Curley could use it for  physical therapy a dog lover he enjoyed playing   with his pets a collie named lady and two other  pups named salty and shorty later that year Curley   suffered another stroke which left him partially  paralyzed he was using a wheelchair by 1950 and   fed boiled rice and apples as part of his diets  reduces weight and blood pressure Valerie admitted   him into the motion picture country home in  hospital in August of 1950 he was released after   several months of treatment and medical tests  in February 1951 he was placed in a nursing home   where he suffered yet another stroke a month later  in April he went to live at the North Hollywood   Hospital and sanitarium and December at the North  Holly would hospital and sanitarium supervisor   called and advised the Howard family that Curley  was becoming a problem for the nursing staff at   the facility because of his mental deterioration  they admitted they could no longer care for him   and suggest that he'd be placed in a mental  hospital Moe refused and relocated him to the   Baldy View sanitarium in San Gabriel California in  January of 1952 Moe was contacted on the Columbia   set to help move Curley for what would be the last  time eleven days later on January 18th Curley died   at 48 he was given a Jewish funeral and laid to  rest at home of P Cemetery in East Los Angeles

Channel: The Life and Sad Ending

Views: 9,025,148

Rating: 4.7940402 out of 5

Keywords: the three stooges, three, stooges, jerome howard, jerome, curly, howard, curley, shemp, moe, larry, ted healy, public domain, public, domain, what happened to, whatever happend to, hollywood, graveyard, larry fine, CURLY, dearly, departed

Id: u40g-FXWA4U

Length: 5min 16sec (316 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 22 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/kdubstep]

So sad. I was a huge fan of the stooges, much to the chagrin of my mom, especially Curly.

[u/mdavis360]

He was a victim of circumstance.