Replacing Shemp
In 1925, Shemp eventually made the decision to leave his dual-brother act with Moe. During a performance attended by Shemp, Moe and Healy, the group quickly found their replacement: Larry Fine. After being discovered by the group during his stage performance, confident he found Shemp’s replacement Stooge, Healy offered Larry Shemp’s position for a salary of $90 a week.
While Larry quickly accepted this offer, Shemp would later join Moe and his replacement, thus forming the original Three Stooges.
A Romantic At Heart
While Moe revealed a highly detailed, compelling account of his professional life as a multi-talented comedian, it was his wife, Helen Schonberger, who revealed the uncharacteristically softer, loving side of her husband. According to Schonberger, this Stooge was a lifelong romantic, one who managed to go above and beyond to express his overwhelming love for Schonberger, even when they were oceans apart. The unconditional love the comedian had for his wife is perfectly illustrated in Schonberger’s account of a romantic surprise she once received from Moe, while he was away in London.
Despite being five thousand miles away from his wife on their anniversary, Moe still managed to express his love for her, hiring a professional singer to serenade Schonberger on their special day. A statement she backed up with the story of the couple’s 10 year wedding anniversary. This story is told by Schonberger in the book, “The Three Stooges Scapbook”: [T]he phone rang and a strange voice on the other end asked me if I would take Moe Horwitz for my lawful wedded husband. The voice then proceeded to perform the entire wedding ceremony, with me on one end and Moe (the mystery voice) on the other… at the end of the ceremony, in a beautiful baritone voice, he sang ‘Oh Promise Me,’ the song sung at our wedding.”
Two Brothers Get Their Start
In 1921, Ted Healy hired the first Stooge, Moe Howard, to work in a vaudeville act. Like his brother, Shemp Howard too aspired to make it as an entertainer. Alongside his brother Moe, the two brothers performed in a number of amateur and vaudeville acts.
In 1922, as fate would have it, the two ran into former schoolmate and vaudeville comedian Ted Healy, who required a replacement for his current act at the Brooklyn prospect theater. Soon after, Moe and Shemp joined Healy’s act.
Larry Fine’s Commemorative Mural
Reflective of the work of the Three Stooges, Larry Fine’s commemorative mural in Philadelphia actually began as a joke. However, with the help of fellow Philadelphians, who petitioned to honor fellow native Larry Fine in his home city, the Larry Fine mural was born. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Fine grew up at 3rd and South Streets, located in South Philadelphia. As such, it was at the corner of 3rd and South Streets, above a restaurant called Jon’s Bar and Grill, that mural artist David McShane painted the mural celebrating and honoring the life and work of this talented stooge.
Started in 1999, the large mural depicts Fine with his trademark dazed expression on his face, violin in hand. This commemorative piece of art was dedicated to the late actor in a ceremony, on October 26, 1999, and was attended by Fine’s sister. Fine’s mural was not completed until October 19, 2005, decades after his death, in January of 1975.
The Many Phobias of Shemp Howard
Despite the jolly demeanor displayed on screen, in reality, Shemp’s life was actually heavily impacted by his many phobias. According to Shemp’s wife, Gertrude “Babe” Howard, her husband was “just a big old ‘fraidy cat.” Throughout his life, Shemp Howard suffered from a long list of phobias, some of which included being “afraid of his own shadow,” a fear of cars, planes, dogs and even water.
Much of these fears can be traced back to traumatic experiences in his childhood, such as his fear of automobiles, a phobia which first began following a terrifying car crash the comedian was in at a young age. As a result of this particular incident, Shemp never got his driver’s license. Additionally, during filming of the Three Stooges, in all scenes involving Shemp behind the wheel, the moving car being filmed was actually always towed, never once driven by Shemp.