Shemp Howard

Shemp Howard was married to Gertrude Frank from 1925 until his death. The couple had one child, Mort Howard, who was born on February 26, 1927.

On November 22, 1955, Shemp went out with some of his pals to a boxing match at the old Hollywood Legion Stadium. While returning home in a taxicab, he died of a sudden massive heart attack. He was 60 at that time. The actor was buried in the Indoor Mausoleum at Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

A TV biopic film titled ‘The Three Stooges’ was made in 2000 to honor the Howard brothers. In this flick, Shemp Howard’s role was portrayed by 'fake Shemp' Johnny Kassir.

Shemp Howard was born as Samuel Horwitz on March 11, 1895, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.A. Raised in Brooklyn, he was one of the five sons of his Jewish parents, Jennie Horwitz and Solomon Horwitz. He had two younger brothers, Moe and Jerome, as well as two older brothers, Irving and Benjamin.

Initially Shemp Howard and his brother Moe appeared as minstrel-show-style "blackface" comedians in the act titled ‘Howard and Howard—A Study in Black’. During this time, the duo also worked for a rival vaudeville circuit, appearing without makeup.

After this, Shemp became a part of an act known as ‘Ted Healy and His Stooges’. The stooges of this act included the Howard brothers and others who joined and left between 1925 and 1928.

In August 1930, following a disagreement with Ted, Shemp and his brother Moe and their friend Larry Fine launched their own act titled ‘Howard, Fine & Howard’ and became part of the RKO vaudeville circuit. Soon after this, the three premiered at Paramount Theatre.

In 1931, the Howard brothers added "Three Lost Soles" to their act's name, and also hired Jack Walsh as their straight man.

They continued this way until July 1932, when Healy approached them to collaborate again for ‘Passing Show of 1932’ and the brothers readily accepted the offer. However, due to a contract dispute on August 16, 1932, Healy walked out during rehearsals. Due to this, Shemp got frustrated and left Healy's act to stay with ‘Passing Show’.

In the year 1941, Shemp Howard did a few amazing movies like ‘Tight Shoes’, ‘Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga’, ‘Hold That Ghost’, ‘Too Many Blondes’, ‘In the Navy’, ‘San Antonio Rose’ and ‘Hellzapoppin'.

A year later, he was cast in some more fabulous big screen projects like ‘Crazy House’, ‘Arabian Nights’, ‘Pittsburgh’, ‘Private Buckaroo’, ‘The Strange Case of Doctor Rx’ and ‘Strictly in the Groove’.

During 1938–1939 as well as 1944–1947, the American comedian appeared in Columbia's two-reel comedies, along with Columbia regulars The Glove Slingers, Andy Clyde, Tom Kennedy and El Brendel. He replaced his brother Curly in Columbia's famous Stooge shorts.

He initially joined the Stooges on a temporary basis but as Curly's condition worsened, Shemp Howard’s association with the Stooges became permanent. Before replacing Curly in the film series, he was also substituted for his brother in a few personal appearances in the early 1940s.