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Biography: Shemp Howard

Brooklyn-born comedian Shemp Howard was the oldest of five sons of a Lithuanian immigrant couple. Shemp was a prankish kid who used humor to obscure the fact that he lived in mortal fear of practically everything, from automobiles to oceans. It is fortunate that he chose show business as profession, since he proved time and again to be utterly incapable of succeeding in any other line of work. Following the lead of his younger brother Moe, Shemp went into vaudeville with a blackface act. In 1922, Shemp and Moe were hired as stooges for comedian Ted Healy; three years later, Larry Fine joined the act, which graduated from vaudeville to Broadway. Since Healy liked his stooges to look as ridiculous as possible, he insisted that they each adopt an eccentric hairstyle. Shemp chose to part his hair down the middle and slick it into place with vaseline, a style he'd retain for the rest of his career. Shemp struck out on his own in 1932. Throughout the '30s, he was starred or featured in dozens of Vitaphone 2-reel comedies, where his growly delivery of lines, his incessant adlibbing and his homely "kisser" never failed to elicit loud laughter. In 1940, he signed a contract with Universal pictures, appearing in such films as Hellzapoppin' (1941), Pittsburgh (1942) and Arabian Nights (1942). Shemp was invariably hilarious in these films -- too hilarious for the tastes of such comedians as W.C. Fields and Lou Costello, who insisted that many of Shemp's best bits be consigned to the cutting room floor. While headlining his own series of Columbia 2-reelers in 1946, Shemp was asked by his brother Moe and Larry Fine to rejoin their old act, which by now had gained fame as The Three Stooges. Shemp's replacement in the act, his kid brother Curly, had suffered a stroke, and a new "patsy" was required to act as the target of Moe's physical assaults. Shemp remained with the Three Stooges from 1946 thorugh 1955, appearing in two-reelers, stage presentations, TV guest spots, and one feature film (Gold Raiders [1951]). Shemp Howard died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 60; even after his death, Shemp "starred" in four Three Stooges comedies, courtesy of stock footage from earlier films and a stand-in by the name of Joe Palma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide less

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Movies (12)
TV (1)
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The Gold Raiders (1951)
Cast: Larry Fine
Tags: Slapstick Comedy Western
Length: 56min
Filmed in a record five days, Gold Raiders was an attempt by producer Jack Schwartz to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien. Adding novelty value to the proceedings are the Three Stooges: Shemp Howard, Larry Howard and...
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One Exciting Week (1946)
Tags: Crime Comedy
Length: 69min
Radio comedian Al Pearce heads the cast of Republic's One Exciting Week. Pearce is cast as wartime hero Dan Flannery, who while en route to a homecoming celebration is waylaid by three crooks. Conked on the noggin, Flannery awakens with amnesia, and...
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How's About It? (1943)
Tags: Romance Musical Musical Romance
Length: 60min
In this musical, the three Andrews Sisters play elevator operators who work in an office building containing a music publishing business. The girls, all aspiring singers, hope to get a break while working there. Another resident in the building, a...
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Jerks of All Trades (1949)
Tags: Slapstick Comedy
Length: 21min
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard star as the Three Stooges in this 1949 television pilot, filmed before a live studio audience. The 21-minute adventure finds the numbskulls working as painters and paperhangers. Hired to work on the home of an...
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Mummy's Dummies (1948)
Cast: Shemp Howard Moe Howard
Tags: Slapstick Comedy
Length: 15min
This time we're in ancient Egypt, where the Three Stooges own a used-chariot dealership ("I'm Honest Moe, he's Honest Shemp, and that's...that's Larry"). When they bamboozle the Captain of the Royal Guard (Ralph Dunn) out of 400 shekels for a...
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Strictly in the Groove (1942)
Cast: Leon Errol
Tags: Musical
Length: 60min
A college student's passion for swinging music leads him to found his own band. When he starts spending more time playing music than studying, his father, a prominent hotelier, steps in and sends the lad to a dude ranch in Arizona. Undeterred, the boy...
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Mississippi Gambler (1942)
Cast: Frances Langford
Tags: Drama Crime
Length: 60min
Universal's standing Show Boat sets get another workout in the 60-minute B-picture Mississippi Gambler. On the trail of mob hitman Mathews (Douglas Fowley), reporter Johnny Forbes (Kent Taylor) journeys from New York to Mississippi. Here he finds...
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San Antonio Rose (1941)
Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr.
Tags: Musical
Length: 63min
San Antonio Rose is an amiably wacky mini-musical evenly divided between its "official" stars, The Merry Macs, and a strong cast of supporting clowns. Robert Paige plays roadhouse operator Con Conway, whose establishment is in danger of being squeezed...
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Too Many Blondes (1941)
Tags: Musical Romance
Length: 60min
One wonders if the title Too Many Blondes was inspired by the well-publicized romantic peccadilloes of the film's star, Rudy Vallee. The plot centers on a husband-wife radio team, Dick (Vallee) and Virginia (Helen Parrish). When Dick is caught in an...
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Private Buckaroo (1942)
Tags: Musical Romance Musical
Length: 70min
This upbeat WW II-era musical features performances by the Andrews Sisters and Harry James as it tells the story of a rebellious young inductee who has trouble toeing the line until he meets a retired officer's lovely daughter. James and his band are...
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Biography: Shemp Howard

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