Biography
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Shemp Howard
[Brother]
::
Moe Howard
[Brother]
Trivia and Quotes
Trivia
 After his stroke in 1947, he was left half paralyzed and unable to work, with high medical expenses coming in. Brothers Moe and Shemp, and `mispocheh` Larry Fine, gave percentages of their weekly paychecks to help him. Once went to the doctor about an ear infection, and the doctor removed a cherry pit from his ear.
Once while in Atlantic City was cracked over the head with a cane by a young boy who thought Curly`s head was as tough as it appeared to be in the 3 Stooges shorts.
During the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, he thought the house shaking was the result of a trick Ted Healy was playing on them, and was found by his brother Moe, pounding on Ted`s door telling him to stop whatever he was doing.
Got his first job when he was 25 years old, performing as a burlesque conductor for the Orville Knapp Orchestra.
Ted Healy, who originated the idea of the Stooges` brutal style of comedy, wasn`t originally interested in hiring Curly to replace Shemp, the original stooge, after Shemp left the group. Curly had wavy chestnut-brown hair and a waxed mustache. When Curly went out and completely shaved his head and (eventually) his mustache, Healy hired him on the spot.
Despite his shy nature, the success and celebrity of the Stooges triggered the celebrity of indulging in drinking, eating and womanizing. He was also a compulsive spender. Moe, the business manager of the group, tried to curtail Curley`s spending habits but was unable to. Despite several hospitalizations for abusing his health, Curly stubbornly refused to change his lifestyle.
In 1984, `Curly` was immortalized with "The Curly Shuffle," a tribute and homage to Jerome `Curly` Horowitz (Howard) written by the comedy group "Jump in the Saddle" and accompanied by a music video containing the best of the best from The Three Stooges clips featuring the late comedian.
Is portrayed by Michael Chiklis in The Three Stooges (2000) (TV).
Never made a public or on-camera appearance out of character.
The accident he had as a child, which gave him his limp, was a gun accident. One morning he was playing in the backyard, with his pistol, and it had a hair trigger. He accidentally shot his foot and was so frightened of surgery that he never got it fixed. Moe was the one who found him. To mask it on screen, he developed his famous exaggerated walk.
Was an avid dog lover and often brought stray dogs home with him from traveling.
Unlike his character, he was very shy and withdrawn when not on camera.
The identity of Curly`s first wife remains a mystery to this day. The marriage was annulled after five months because his mother didn`t like the idea of him marrying in only his late teens.
During a visit to The Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara in January, 1945, he was diagnosed as having extreme hypertension, a retinal hemorrhage and obesity thus explaining his ragged appearance in all of the shorts released in 1946-47, his last year with the group.
Some of the animators at Disney had seen him as "Curly" in The Three Stooges shorts. His movements inspired some of the choreography in the mushroom dance in Fantasia (1940).
He shaved his head for his "Curly" character but did not like it because he felt it reduced his appeal to ladies.
The original use of "woo-woo-woo" was an ad lib. It was actually written into the later scripts.
With a full head of hair, appears for the first time with both Moe and Shemp in the Stooge short "Catch that Lion"; it was also his last Stooge appearance.
Shared the same nickname, "Babe," as another contemporary rotund slapstick comic, Oliver Hardy, although it was a coincidence. Curly was the youngest of the three Howard brothers--the others being Moe and Shemp--and his mother always called him "My Baby." His brothers shortened it to "Babe" and used it to constantly tease him. The nickname stuck to him all his life.
According to one of his ex-wives, Curly was extremely musical. He could take almost anything lying around around and make music with it. She said when they went to night clubs, he would take two spoons and play along with the club`s band, or tear the table cloth to music. Of course, they would find the cost of the table cloth added to the bill!.
Interred at Home of Peace Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, USA, in the "Western Jewish Institute" section, row 5, grave 1.
Curly also filmed a scene for The Three Stooges short Malice in the Palace (1949) as a chef, but was left on the cutting room floor.
The final pie-fight scene of Half-Wits Holiday (1947) did not include Curly because he had suffered a stroke the day the scene was filmed.
Curly`s famous "woo-woo-woo" originated in the short "Woman Haters," 1934.
Curly (Jerome) Howard was a member of The Three Stooges 1930-1946. He took over from, and was finally replaced by, his brother Shemp Howard.
Fourth member of The Three Stooges team, of which, over time, there were six altogether. (See Ted Healy).
Curly was known as "Jerry" before the Stooges; Moe always called him "Babe".
Wore a Bowler Derby hat in a majority of his Stooge shorts, most notably in Disorder in the Court (1936).
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