Jerome Lester Jerry Horwitz—better known by his stage name Curly Howard—was born 110 years ago today. A comedian and vaudevillian actor, he was best known as the most outrageous member of the American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges, which also featured his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard and actor Larry Fine. Curly was generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges. He was well known for his high-pitched voice and vocal expressions (nyuk-nyuk-nyuk! woob-woob-woob! soitenly! and barking like a dog) as well as his physical comedy, improvisations and athleticism. An untrained actor, Curly borrowed (and significantly exaggerated) the woob woob from nervous and soft-spoken comedian Hugh Herbert. Curlys unique version of woob-woob-woob was firmly established by the time of the Stooges second film, Punch Drunks, in 1934. Curly Howard was born in the Bensonhurst section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. He was the fifth of the five Horwitz brothers and of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. Because he was the youngest, his brothers called him Babe to tease him. The nickname stuck with him all his life, although when his older brother Shemp married Gertrude Frank, who was also nicknamed Babe, the brothers started calling him Curly to avoid confusion. When Curly was 12, he accidentally shot himself in the left ankle while cleaning a rifle. Moe rushed him to the hospital and saved his life. The wound resulted in a noticeably thinner left leg and a slight limp. He was so frightened of surgery that he never had the limp corrected. While with the Stooges, he developed his famous exaggerated walk to mask the limp on screen. Curlys childlike mannerisms and natural comedic charm made him a hit with audiences, particularly children. He was famous in the act for having an indestructible head, which always won out by breaking anything that assaulted it, including saws (resulting in his characteristic quip, Oh, look!). Although having no formal acting training, his comedic skills were exceptional. Many times, directors would simply let the camera roll freely and let Curly improvise. Jules White, in particular, would leave gaps in the Stooge scripts where Curly could improvise for several minutes. In later years, White commented: If we wrote a scene and needed a little something extra, Id say to Curly, Look, weve got a gap to fill this in with a woob-woob or some other bit of business. And he never disappointed us. By the time the Stooges hit their peak in the late 1930s, their films had almost become vehicles for Curlys unbridled comic performances. Classics like A Plumbing We Will Go, We Want Our Mummy, An Ache in Every Stake, and Cactus Makes Perfect display his ability to take inanimate objects (like food, tools, pipes, etc.) and turn them into ingenious comic props. Moe later confirmed that when Curly forgot his lines, that merely allowed him to improvise on the spot so that the take could continue uninterrupted. Curlys offscreen personality was the antithesis of his onscreen manic persona. An introvert, he generally kept to himself, rarely socializing with people unless he had been drinking (which he would increasingly turn to as the stresses of his career grew). In addition, he came to life when in the presence of brother Shemp. Curly could not be himself around brother Moe, who treated his younger brother with a fatherly wag of the finger. Never an intellect, Curly simply refrained from engaging in crazy antics unless he was in his element: with family, performing or intoxicated. During filming on May 6, 1946, Curly suffered a severe stroke while sitting in director Jules Whites chair, waiting to film the last scene of the day. When Curly was called by the assistant director to take the stage, he did not answer. Moe went looking for his brother: he found Curly with his head dropped to his chest. Moe later recalled that his mouth was distorted and he was unable to speak, only cry. Moe quietly alerted White to all this, leading the latter to rework the scene quickly, dividing the action between Moe and Larry. Curly was then rushed to the hospital, where Moe joined him after the filming. After his discharge, Curly went to live at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. In 1948, Curly suffered a second massive stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. He used a wheelchair by 1950 and was fed boiled rice and apples as part of his diet to reduce his weight [and blood pressure]. In February 1951, he was placed in a nursing home, where he suffered another stroke a month later. In April, he went to live at the North Hollywood Hospital and Sanitarium. In December 1951, the North Hollywood Hospital and Sanitarium supervisor advised the Howard family that Curly was becoming a problem to the nursing staff at the facility because of his mental deterioration. They admitted they could no longer care for him and suggested he be placed in a mental hospital. Eleven days later, on January 18, 1952 Curly died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at 48. Here, a clip showing “The Genius of Curly Howard.”
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 04:17:56 +0000
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