Louis Feinberg known professionally as Larry Fine, died 40 years ago today at the age of 72. Best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges. Offstage, Larry was a social butterfly. He liked a good time and surrounded himself with friends. He and his wife, Mabel, loved to party and every Christmas served lavish midnight meals. Some of his friends called him a yes man since he was always so agreeable, no matter what the circumstances. Larrys devil-may-care personality carried over to the world of finance. He was a terrible businessman and spent his money as soon as he earned it. He had a significant gambling addiction, leading him to gamble away all the money he had on him either at racetracks or high-stakes gin rummy card games. In an interview, Fine even admitted that he often gave money to actors and friends who needed help and never asked to be repaid. As Joe Besser and director Edward Bernds recall, because of his constant and free spending and gambling, Larry was almost forced into bankruptcy when Columbia stopped filming new Three Stooges films in December 1957. In the mid-60s, the Three Stooges tried their hand at a new comedy show titled The New Three Stooges, a mixture of live and animated segments. While it produced good ratings, they were too old by this point to do slapstick comedy well and Larry also began showing early signs of the stroke that would eventually kill him, such as frequent trouble delivering his lines properly. Returning to work, Fine and the other two Stooges were working on a new TV series entitled Kooks Tour in January 1970 when Larry suffered a debilitating stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. He eventually moved to the Motion Picture Country House, an industry retirement community in Woodland Hills, where he spent his remaining years, and used a wheelchair during his last five years. Even in his paralyzed state, Fine did what he could to entertain the other patients, completed his as told to autobiography Stroke of Luck, and was visited regularly by his old partner Moe Howard. Fine suffered several additional strokes and died on January 24, 1975 at age 72.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:40:09 +0000
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