Robert Matthews

Who I'd like to meet:

Born: June 19, 1897 in Bensonhurst, New York Died: May 4, 1975 at the age of 77 Moe Howard was born on June 19, 1897, in Bensonhurst, New York, a small Jewish community on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Moe's real name was Moses Horwitz. Moe's mother's name was Jennie Horwitz, and his father was clothing cutter Solomon Horwitz. Moe was the fourth eldest of five Howard brothers. Two of Moe's brothers, Jerome (Curly), and Shemp performed with him as members of The Three Stooges. Moe's other two brothers, Jack and Irving, never entered show business. Moe graduated from P.S. 163 in Brooklyn. He attended Erasmus High School for only two months and never completed his high school education. To please his parents he took a class in electric shop at the Baron DeHirsch Trade School in New York. Moe's true love, however, was the theater. In 1909 at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn he earned his entry into film making by running errands for the performers. His persistence paid off, and he soon appeared in films with such stars of the time as John Bunny, Flora Finch, Earle William, Herbert Rawlinson, and Walter Johnson. It was also in 1909 that Moe met Ted Healy. They became close friends, and in the summer of 1912 joined Annette Kellerman's aquatic act as diving "girls". This job only lasted through the summer. After a separation, Moe renewed his acquaintance with Ted Healy in 1922 and together with brother Shemp formed a partnership, which would last, with a few short breaks, for almost 10 years. On June 7, 1925, Moe married Helen Schonberger, who was a cousin of the late Harry Houdini. After a short stint outside of show business, Moe rejoined Ted Healy. Larry Fine joined the act in 1925. Healy with his Stooges appeared in a string of vaudeville shows including A Night in Venice. Ted Healy and his Stooges made their first screen appearance in the classic 1930's comedy feature "Soup to Nuts" for 20th Century Fox. This film was followed by a series of comedies for Metro Goldwyn Mayer. In 1934, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerome Curly Howard, signed on with Columbia Studios as The Three Stooges to make the comedy shorts that are still viewed on television today. In 1958, Moe and Larry joined Joe DeRita to continue The Three Stooges act until Larry suffered a stroke during the filming of "Kook's Tour" in 1970. As Larry was unable to perform, Moe and Curly Joe considered re-placing him with Emil Sitka, but The Three Stooges never performed together again. Moe has two children, Joan and Paul. Moe passed away on May 4, 1975 at the age of 77. Born: October 5, 1902 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died: January 24, 1975 at the age of 72 Larry Fine was born Louis Fienberg on October 5, 1902 on the south side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Fienberg, and mother Fanny Lieberman, owned a watch repair and jewelry shop. Larry had two brothers, Morris, a younger brother Phillip who died prematurely, and a sister, Lila, who became a school teacher. As a child, Larry's left arm was badly burned from acid used by his father in the jewelry business. Larry required immediate attention, and a skin graft was done on his arm. Larry's doctors recommended that he be given violin lessons as a form of therapy. Playing the violin was supposed to strengthen his damaged arm muscles. Larry's skill as a violinist became so impressive that eventually he began to play professionally. Larry played in local theater amateur nights usually taking top prize. Interestingly enough, along with being a violin player he also was a boxer. Larry earned money as a light weight fighter. Later on he would develop an act in which he would do a Russian dance while playing the violin. It was this act that caught the attention of Ted Healy. After Shemp decided to leave Ted Healy's act, Moe suggested that perhaps Larry could replace Shemp. The trio, Moe, Larry, and Shemp first appeared on Broadway in A Night in Venice. Larry also appeared in The Stooges first full length motion picture, "Soup to Nuts," in 1930 for 20th Century Fox. Of course, Larry went on with Moe and Curly to form The Three Stooges, who appeared in the Columbia shorts beginning in 1934. Larry and his wife, Mable, lived in hotels, first in the President Hotel in Atlantic City, where his daughter Phyllis was raised, then the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Later Larry bought an old Mediterranean style house in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles. Larry had two children. His son, Johnny died in a tragic automobile accident on November 17, 1961 at age 24. Larry also had a daughter, Phyllis. Larry's wife, Mabel, died on May 30, 1967. Larry has five grandchildren, Christy Lynn Clark, John Fine, Jr., Phyllis Miller, Kris Cutler, and Eric Lamond. After 1958, Larry, Moe, and Curly Joe performed before live audiences all across the country, appeared in six full length motion pictures, appeared on numerous television shows, and performed in other productions until Larry Fine suffered a stroke during the filming of "Kook's Tour" in 1970. After his stroke Larry never performed again. Larry Fine passed away on January 24, 1975. Born: October 22, 1903 in Brooklyn, New York Died: January 18, 1952 at the age of 48 Curly Howard's real name was Jerome Lester Horwitz. He was born to Jenny and Solomon Horwitz on October 22, 1903 in Bath Beach, a summer resort in a section of Brooklyn. He was the fifth and youngest of the five Horwitz brothers. Curly's interest in show business grew as he watched his brothers, Shemp and Moe perform as stooges in Ted Healy's act. After Shemp left the Healy act, Moe suggested to Healy that his kid brother Jerome was available and would make an excellent replacement for Shemp. Curly at the time was known as "Babe." When Babe showed up to talk to Healy to join the act he had long wavy brown hair and a mustache. In order to join the act Babe agreed to shave off his mustache and shave his head. Now referred to as Curly, he joined the team and played with the Stooges in vaudeville acts and comedy shorts for MGM. Later, in 1934, Curly along with Larry and Moe performed in many of the shorts that were produced for Columbia Pictures. After Curly's first marriage was annulled, he married three more times. On June 7, 1937 he married Elaine Ackerman. In 1938, Elaine gave birth to Curly's first child, a daughter, Marilyn. Elaine and Curly divorced on July 11, 1940 after only 3 years of marriage. On October 17, 1945, Curly married Marion Buxbaum. After a miserable three months of arguments and accusations, Marion and Curly separated on January 14, 1946, and Curly sued for divorce. This divorce was quite scandalous and notices were carried in all the local papers. It was after his separation from Marion that Curly's health started its rapid decline. On May 6, 1946, he suffered a stroke during the filming of his 97th Three Stooges comedy, "Half-Wits' Holiday" (1947). A year later Curly met Valerie Newman, whom he married on July 31, 1947. Valerie was Curly's fourth wife, and she nursed him through those last, awful years. Valerie gave birth to a daughter, Janie. Finally, in 1949, Curly's health took a severe turn for the worse when he suffered his second in a series of strokes and was rushed to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood. Curly died on January 18, 1952. He was 48 years old. Born: March 17, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York Died: November 23, 1955 at the age of 60 Shemp was born Samuel Horwitz in Brooklyn, New York on March 17, 1895. He acquired the name "Shemp" when his mother, with her broad European accent, would call him "Sam," which sounded like "Shemp." Shemp graduated from P.S. 163 in Brooklyn. Shemp enrolled along with Moe at the Baron De Hirsch Trade School in New York where Shemp took up plumbing and Moe studied to be an electrician. Shemp, like his brother Moe, had ambitions to be an entertainer. Shemp worked with his brother Moe in various amateur and vaudeville acts until 1922 when a former school mate and vaudeville comedian, Ted Healy, was playing at the Brooklyn prospect theater and needed a replacement in his current act. Moe and Shemp joined the act. In 1925 Shemp married Gertrude "Babe" Frank. She gave birth to a son, Morton, in 1927. In that same year Larry joined Moe and Shemp with Ted Healy. In 1930, Shemp went with Healy and Moe and Larry to co-star in "Soup to Nuts." A short time later, Healy left the JJ Shubert Broadway review, taking Moe and Larry with him. Shemp decided to stay with the show. On his own, Shemp went on to star in countless comedies for Vitaphone in 1932, and he later played the role of Knobby Walsh in the Joe Palooka series. Shemp did feature film roles at RKO, MGM, and Monogram. In the 1940's he was given numerous roles in such Universal films as "Buck Privates," "The Bank Dick," and "Hellzapoppin!" After Curly had to leave the act because of his illness, Shemp become one of The Three Stooges. Shemp not only made 77 Stooge shorts, but also a feature film, "Gold Raiders" (1951). Shemp also appeared in the TV pilot "Jerks of All Trades." On November 23, 1955, Shemp went out with his friends to a boxing match at the Hollywood Legion Stadium. After the fights were over, Shemp hailed a taxicab to take him to his North Hollywood home with friend Al Winston. Shemp set back and lit up his cigar. Suddenly he slumped over into Winston's lap. Shemp had a heart attack and was dead at the age of 60. Born: August 12, 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri Died: March 1, 1988 at the age of 80 After Shemp Howard died in 1955, the Stooges replaced him with Joe Besser. Joe Besser was born in Saint Louis, Missouri on August 12, 1907 to Fannie and Morris Besser. His parents were Orthodox Jews and moved to the United States from Poland in 1895 where Morris worked as a baker. By 1928 he was well on his way to being a solo comedian. While on tour he was introduced to Erna Dora Kretschmer (Erna Kay) whom he married on November 18, 1932. Erna Kay served as a choreographer on the 1929 Paramount film "The Coconuts," which featured the Marx Brothers. Around 1940, Joe took Columbia Pictures contractee Jimmy Little on tour as his straight man. Soon Joe became a headliner on the Orpheum, RKO, Paramount, and Loew's theater circuits. He also appeared on the Broadway stage. Eventually Columbia Pictures signed Joe to an exclusive contract and cast him in features and Comedy two reelers. Slowly making his climb to stardom, radio comedians like Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Eddie Cantor, and Milton Berle were all clamoring to have him on their shows. Besser made frequent appearances on the Jack Benny Show, The Fred Allen Show, The Eddie Cantor Show, Tonight on Broadway, The Vaughan Monroe Show, and from 1945 to 1949 he played with Milton Berle on Let Yourself Go. Besser made many comedy shorts for Columbia before joining The Three Stooges in 1956. Joe left the Stooges in 1958 and went on to star in feature films and had a successful television career. On March 1, 1988, Joe passed away in his North Hollywood home of heart failure. Fourteen months later, his wife Erna died on July 1, 1989. Born: July 12, 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died: July 3, 1993 at the age of 83 Joe DeRita's real name was Joseph Wardell. He was born July 12, 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Joe was the only one of the Stooges to come from a show biz family. His mother, Florenz DeRita, was a dancer and his father, Frank Wardell, was a stage technician. Joe was in show business from the age of seven. Joe's roles included the title role in the stage version of "Peck's Bad Boy" with his mother and father. In 1921 Joe went into burlesque because vaudeville was just about gone. Joe's film debut was in "The Doughgirls" in 1944 with Ann Sheridan for Warner Brothers. During the war, Joe worked with the USO and traveled extensively overseas with many Hollywood stars including his friend, Randolph Scott. He made several tours with Bing Crosby to entertain servicemen in England and France. After the war, Joe made guest appearances on radio shows including Burns & Allen and guest appearances in films and television shows such as The Desilu Playhouse, This is Alice, and Bachelor Father. Joe appeared in Columbia shorts such as "Slappily Married" and "The Good Bad Egg," these shorts featured some of the same supporting actors who were in the Stooge Shorts. In 1958 the Columbia short subjects department was disbanded, and The Three Stooges no longer had a contract with Columbia. Joe Besser did not want to travel with the act so Moe and Larry needed a third stooge. Joe DeRita was asked to join the act, and at this time the Stooges formed Comedy III Productions, Inc., a company which still holds The Three Stooges rights and manages their affairs. In 1958 Columbia released the old Three Stooges shorts to television and there was an immediate resurgence of popularity of the Stooges. The Stooges with Curly Joe as the third Stooge made numerous personal appearances all around the country and made six full length feature motion pictures. This period of time from 1958 and throughout the 60's was described by Larry Fine as the Stooges' golden years. While filming "Kook's Tour" in 1970 Larry suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. There was some talk of replacing Larry with Emil Sitka, but The Three Stooges never performed together again. Curly Joe formed an act called The New Three Stooges with Mousie Garner and Frank Mitchell, but the act only made a few appearances. Joe was just too old to do the Stooge shtick anymore. Curly-Joe married Jean DeRita in 1966 and they were married 25 years until his death. Joe DeRita died on July 3, 1993 at the Motion Picture Hospital in Los Angeles. He was the last stooge.