Ten Things You Mightn't Have Known About Curly

Lettuce begin, gentlepersons, with a brief bio of The Super Stooge:

"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." - threestooges.com

1. Curly: Improvisational Comic Maven.

"If we wrote a scene and needed a little something extra, I'd say to Curly, 'Look, we've got a gap to fill this in with a 'woob-woob' or some other bit of business.' And he never disappointed us." Jules White (Ted Okuda; Edward Watz (1986). The Columbia Comedy Shorts)

"If we were going through a scene and he'd forget his words for a moment, you know, rather than stand, get pale and stop, you never knew what he was going to do. On one occasion he'd get down to the floor and spin around like a top until he remembered what he had to say." (Moe Howard on A&E Network's Biography)

2. Curly had a bum leg.

"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." (Joan Howard Maurer; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook)

3. Curly was quite the athlete.

Accomplished ballroom dancer and basketball player. I know that at 5'5", it's hard to imagine Curly on the bball courts, but it was a different game then. One generation+ later, my dad was a touted center at 6'1" tall who played with his back to the basket. Some tidbits put you in a real sense of an historical moment, huh? As to his dancing chops, when you look at his physical comedy -- it's all there.

4. Curly's favorite Stooge was Shemp.

Curly was an introvert in his personal life, who came to life when on-stage, when drunk, and in the presence of big bro Shemp. He felt free to be himself around him, unlike his other big bro, Moe -- who oft wagged a quasi-paternal finger at Curly. Moe went as far as filing Curly's taxes and handling his finances and business affiars, for fear (well-placed) that Curly could not. It is worth noting that Shemp was a Hall of Fame neurotic, so judgement of Curly's own bugaboos was most likely scant. I picture a camaraderie therein.

5. Curly hated his schtik look.

Curly had thick, wavy chestnut brown hair and an impeccable handlebar moustache, prior to Ted Healy insisting he shave it all off. Curly was quite self-conscious about his cue-ball scalp, and usually wore a hat when he was in public. He especially felt it when around the fairer sex, but to be blunt, he'd have been better off if it turned their gaze away a bit more often. A bit less "In demand socially," as Moe put it, might have worked a wonder or two.

"I had to shave it off right down to the skin." Curly lamented (Maurer, Joan Howard; Jeff Lenburg; Greg Lenburg (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook)

6. Curly Howard: Canoodler Extraordinaire.

Perhaps it's more apt to say women were amongst his favorite forms of self-ruination, having been married four times. Throughout his life, Curly had a weakness for wine, women and song, and his wild life eventually did him in.

"Moe urged Curly to find himself a wife, hoping it would persuade his brother to finally settle down and allow his health to improve somewhat. After a two-week courtship, he married Marion Buxbaum on October 17, 1945, a union which lasted approximately three months. The divorce proceeding was a bitter one, exacerbated by exploitation in the local media. After the divorce, his health fell into rapid and devastating decline." (Joan Howard Maurer, Jeff Lenburg, Greg Lenburg; The Three Stooges Scrapbook 1982.)

7. Curly Howard: Dog Guy.

"Curly found constant companionship in his dogs and often befriended strays whenever the Stooges were traveling. He would pick up homeless dogs and take them with him from town to town until he found them a home somewhere else on the tour." (Michael Fleming The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons 1999)

"When not performing, he would usually have a few dogs waiting for him at home as well." (The Making of the Stooges VHS Documentary, narrated by Steve Allen (1984))

8. Curly's "Woo-woo-woo" came from somewhere.
Curly borrowed his trademarked "woo woo" from the soft-spoken comedian Hugh Herbert. Curly's unique version of "woo-woo-woo" was firmly established by the time of the Stooges' second film Punch Drunks in 1934; the only short which was written in full by the boys.

9. Curly's antics, in turn, were "borrowed."

On several occasions, Moe was convinced that rising star Lou Costello (a close friend of Shemp) was siphoning material from Curly. Costello was known to acquire prints of the Stooges' films from Columbia Pictures on occasion, presumably to study Curly. Inevitably, Curly's routines would show up in Abbott and Costello feature films, much to Moe's raised ire.

Funny how again we cast an anchor in time, here. It's funny to me that Lou Costello was a rising star while Curly was already an established one. It strikes me how much more current the Stooges seem, as opposed to Abbott & Costello. Your anchor may vary.

Worthy of note is that Mr. Costello's "borrowing" is a far closer facsimile than was Curly's.

10. Curly died in a facility bearing a fantastically Three Stooges-y moniker

Curly suffered several strokes between the years of 1949 and 1952, which confined him for long periods of time in hospitals and convalescence homes.

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. Moe refused and relocated him to the Baldy View Sanitarium wherein he shuffled off to Cosmic Buffalo at the too young age of 48.

Thank ya, gentlepersons, for reading my hacked together ego-driven Stooge indulgences here. We shall in short time return to our regularly scheduled fine tobacco meanderings.