Jerome "Curly" Howard, the rotund, bald Stooge with the high voice was the most popular member of The Three Stooges . His first stage experience was as a comedic conductor for the Orville Knapp Band in 1928. Curly joined The Three Stooges in 1932, replacing his brother Shemp Howard . He made more than 100 film appearances with the team before a massive stroke on the set of Half-Wits Holiday (1947) forced him to retire. He recuperated enough to appear in Hold That Lion! (1947) and hoped to eventually return to the team. But another series of strokes deteriorated his health until he died at the age of 48.
He was known as "Jerry" before joining The Three Stooges . Brother Moe Howard always called him "Babe".Fourth member of The Three Stooges team, of which, over time, there were six altogether. (See Ted Healy ).He was a member of The Three Stooges from 1930-1946. He took over from, and was eventually replaced by, his brother Shemp Howard .His famous "woo-woo-woo" originated in The Three Stooges short Woman Haters (1934), their first of almost 200 for Columbia Pictures.The final pie-fight scene of Half-Wits Holiday (1947) did not include Curly because he had suffered a stroke the day the scene was filmed.He filmed a scene for The Three Stooges short Malice in the Palace (1949) as a chef, but it was left on the cutting room floor (although there are publicity photographs of the scene).Interred at Home of Peace Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, USA, in the "Western Jewish Institute" section, row 5, grave 1.Brother of Moe Howard .Brother of Shemp Howard .According to one of his ex-wives, Curly was extremely musical. He could take almost anything lying around around and make music with it. She said when they went to night clubs, he would take two spoons and play along with the club's band, or tear the table cloth to music. Of course, they would find the cost of the table cloth added to the bill!.Has two older brothers, Jack Horwitz and Irving Horwitz.Shared the same nickname, "Babe," as another contemporary rotund slapstick comic, Oliver Hardy , although it was a coincidence. Curly was the youngest of the three Howard brothers--the others being Moe and Shemp--and his mother always called him "My Baby." His brothers shortened it to "Babe" and used it to constantly tease him. The nickname stuck to him all his life.Son of Sol Horowitz .The original use of "woo-woo-woo" was an ad lib. It was actually written into the later scripts.He shaved his head for his "Curly" character but did not like it because he felt it reduced his appeal to ladies.Some of the animators at Disney had seen him as "Curly" in The Three Stooges shorts. His movements inspired some of the choreography in the mushroom dance in Fantasia (1940).During a visit to The Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara in January, 1945, he was diagnosed as having extreme hypertension, a retinal hemorrhage and obesity thus explaining his ragged appearance in all of the shorts released in 1946-47, his last year with the group.The identity of Curly's first wife remains a mystery to this day. The marriage was annulled after five months because his mother didn't like the idea of him marrying in only his late teens.Unlike his character, he was very shy and withdrawn when not on camera.Was an avid dog lover and often brought stray dogs home with him from traveling.With a full head of hair, appears for the first time with both Moe and Shemp in The Three Stooges short Hold That Lion! (1947); it was also his last Stooge appearance.The accident he had as a child, which gave him his limp, was a gun accident. One morning he was playing in the backyard, with his pistol, and it had a hair trigger. He accidentally shot his foot and was so frightened of surgery that he never got it fixed. Moe was the one who found him. To mask it on screen, he developed his famous exaggerated walk.Never made a public or on-camera appearance out of character.Is portrayed by Michael Chiklis in The Three Stooges (2000) (TV).In 1984 he was immortalized in the song "The Curly Shuffle" by the comedy group "Jump in the Saddle", which was accompanied by a music video containing clips from several of The Three Stooges films featuring him.Despite his shy nature, the success and celebrity of The Three Stooges triggered his lifelong indulgences in drinking too much, overeating and womanizing. He was also a compulsive spender. Brother Moe Howard , the business manager of the group, tried to curtail Curly's spending habits but was unable to. Despite several hospitalizations for health problems due to his lifestyle, Curly stubbornly refused to change it.Ted Healy , who originated the idea of The Three Stooges ' brutal style of comedy, wasn't originally interested in hiring Curly to replace Shemp Howard , the original stooge, after Shemp left the group. Curly had wavy chestnut-brown hair and a waxed mustache. When he went out and completely shaved his head and (eventually) his mustache, Healy hired him on the spot.Got his first job when he was 25 years old, performing as a burlesque conductor for the Orville Knapp Orchestra.During the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, he thought the house shaking was the result of a trick Ted Healy was playing on them, and was found by his brother Moe Howard pounding on Healy's door yelling at him to stop whatever it was he was doing.Once while in Atlantic City, NJ, he was cracked over the head with a cane by a young boy who thought Curly's head was as tough as it appeared to be in The Three Stooges shorts.Once went to the doctor about an ear infection, and the doctor removed a cherry pip from his ear.After his stroke in 1947, he was left half paralyzed and unable to work, with expensive medical bills. Brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard , and fellow Stooge Larry Fine , set aside percentages of their weekly paychecks to help him.His two elder brothers, Shemp Howard and Moe Howard , outlived him.
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The stooges are icemen who, while delivering ice to a house on the top of a high hill, destroy several cakes that a wealthy man is trying to bring home. When their antics cause the servants at their customer's house to quit, the boys are hired to take their place and prepare a dinner party. What they don't know is that the party is for the man whose cakes they wrecked. When Moe's gas filled cake explodes and the man realizes who they are, they must leave in a hurry.
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Set in colonial times, the stooges are convicted criminals who are banished from England to the American colonies. When they arrive, they find that the colonists are starving because the local Indians won't let them on their hunting grounds. The stooges go hunting any, and after a wild chase, are captured by the Indians. They escape and another wild chase ensues.