Larry Fine

Larry Fine was married to Mabel Haney. They had a son named John and a daughter named Phyllis.

He was known to be a very social person. He was a terrible businessman, however, and was bad at managing his finances.

Fine suffered many strokes before he finally passed away on 24 January 1975 at a nursing home in Woodland Hills. He was 72. He was interred at the Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery alongside his wife and son who predeceased him.

Larry Fine was born on 5th October 1902 to a Russian Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father’s name was Joseph Feinberg while his mother’s name was Fanny Lieberman. His parents owned a watch repair and jewelry shop.

Fine suffered an accidental acid burn during his childhood which severely damaged his arms. His parents gave him violin lessons to help strengthen his damaged muscles. After much practice, he became very proficient in playing the violin.

Later he also took up boxing and for some years he even earned his living as a musician and a boxer.

Larry Fine teamed up with Ted Healy and Moe Howard and the three performed in many plays. They soon came to be known as ‘The Three Stooges’. The group made their feature film debut in 1930 in the American film ‘Soup to Nuts’ which was directed by Benjamin Stollof.

Throughout his career, Fine was known for mostly staying in the background and being the voice of reason for his co-actors Moe and Curly. In 1933, they made a cameo appearance in the film ‘Turn Back the Clock’. They also appeared in the comedy film ‘Meet the Baron’ which unfortunately didn’t perform well commercially. The same year, the group appeared in the films ‘Dancing Lady’ and ‘Myrt and Marge’.

In 1934, they appeared in the film ‘Fugitive Lovers’ which was directed by Richard Boleslavesky. It told the story of a dancer in New York who runs away in order to escape from the advances of a gangster. The same year, they played cameo roles in the movies ‘Hollywood Party’ as well as ‘The Captain Hates the Sea’. They also appeared in many short films, which at the time were known as short subjects.

The short films in which the Three Stooges appeared include ‘Meet the Baron’ (1933), ‘Woman Haters’ (1934), ‘Heroes Collars’ (1934), ‘Three Missing Links’ (1938), ‘Loco Boy Makes Good’ (1942), ‘The Hot Scots’ (1948), ‘I’m a Monkey’s Uncle’ (1948), ‘Three Arabian Nights’ (1951), ‘Commotion to the Ocean’ (1956), ‘Pies and Guys’ (1958), and ‘The Outlaws is Coming’ (1965).

The feature films they worked in include ‘Time Out for Rhythm’ (1941), ‘Swing Parade of 1946’ (1946), ‘Have Rocket Will Travel (1959), ‘Snow White and the Three Stooges’ and ‘The Three Stooges in Orbit’ (1962).

‘Myrt and Marge’ is one of the many movies Larry Fine acted in with the Three Stooges. The film is notable as it co-starred the Stooges and Ted Healy before his departure from the group. Directed by Al Boasberg, the film starred actors Myrtle Vail, Donna Damerel, Thomas E Jackson, and Trixie Friganza.

The Three Stooges played the main roles in the 1945 movie ‘Rockin in the Rockies’. Directed by Vernon Keays, the film starred the Stooges along with other actors like Mary Beth Hughes, Jay Kirby, Gladys Blake, and Jack Clifford.