Moe Howard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Moe Howard
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Howard in 1937
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| Born |
Moses Harry Horwitz
June 19, 1897 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
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| Died | May 4, 1975 (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Other names | Harry Howard |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1909–1975 |
| Spouse(s) |
Helen Schonberger
(m. 1925) |
| Children | 2, including Joan Howard Maurer |
| Relatives | Curly Howard (brother) Shemp Howard (brother) |
Moses Harry Horwitz (born June 19, 1897 – died May 4, 1975), known as Moe Howard, was a famous American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges. This comedy team made movies and TV shows for 40 years. The group first started as Ted Healy and His Stooges, performing in vaudeville shows. Moe's unique "bowl cut" hairstyle became his trademark. He got it as a boy when he cut his own hair with scissors.
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
Moe Howard was born Moses Harry Horwitz on June 19, 1897. He was born in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He was the fourth of five sons. His family was of Lithuanian Jewish background. As a child, he was called Moe, and sometimes Harry.
His parents and two older brothers were not in show business. But Moe, his older brother Shemp Howard, and his younger brother Curly Howard all became members of the Three Stooges. Moe loved to read, especially adventure books. This helped him in acting because he could remember his lines very quickly.
Moe's "bowl cut" hair became his famous look. When he was a child, his mother did not want to cut his long hair. But he was teased at school, so he secretly cut it himself in his backyard shed. He once said that he often had to fight his way to and from school.
Moe became very interested in acting. This made his school grades get worse. He would often skip school to watch plays. He would ask an adult to buy his ticket, since children needed to be with an adult. Then he would sit in the balcony and watch the actors, learning from them.
Moe finished elementary school, but he left Erasmus Hall High School after only two months. He tried an electric shop course to please his parents, but he soon quit to follow his dream of acting.
He started by running errands for free at Vitagraph Studios in Midwood, Brooklyn. He got small parts in movies there. But a fire in 1910 destroyed many films, including most of his early work. In 1909, he met a young man named Ernest Lea Nash, who later became Ted Healy. In 1912, Moe and Ted worked together in a summer job. They were "diving girls" in a water show.
Becoming a Star
Early Comedy Acts
Moe kept trying to get more acting experience. He sang in a bar with his brother Shemp until their father stopped them. In 1914, Moe and Shemp joined a traveling minstrel show on a Mississippi River boat. They performed for two summers. They also worked in another vaudeville show without makeup.
In 1921, Moe joined Ted Healy's vaudeville act. In 1923, Moe saw Shemp in the audience during a show. Moe yelled at him from the stage, and Shemp yelled back. Their funny arguments made Healy hire Shemp to join the act permanently.
In June 1925, Moe married Helen Schonberger and decided to retire. He tried working in real estate with his mother. Meanwhile, Ted Healy's act, with Shemp, became very famous. They performed in a Broadway show called A Night in Spain. During this show, in March 1928, Healy asked vaudeville violinist Larry Fine to join the group.
After A Night in Spain ended, Healy asked Moe to come out of retirement. Moe rejoined the act in December 1928. In early 1929, Moe, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard worked together for the first time as a trio. When their next show, A Night in Venice, closed in March 1930, Healy and the trio toured as "Ted Healy and His Racketeers." This name later changed to "Ted Healy and His Stooges."
The Three Stooges Begin
Ted Healy and His Stooges were becoming very popular. They made their first movie, Soup to Nuts (1930). It featured Healy and his four Stooges: Moe, Shemp, Larry, and Fred Sanborn.
Moe, Larry, and Shemp had a disagreement with Healy. So they decided to perform on their own as "Howard, Fine, and Howard." They started their own act on August 28, 1930, at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles. They toured for almost two years, calling themselves "Three Lost Souls."
In July 1932, Healy asked Moe, Larry, and Shemp to rejoin him for a new Broadway show. They agreed. But on August 16, 1932, Ted Healy left the show due to a contract problem. Shemp also decided to leave the act on August 19, 1932. He did not get along well with Healy. Shemp then started working at Vitaphone Studios.
The day after Shemp left, Moe suggested adding his youngest brother, Jerome, to the act. Jerome was called "Babe" by Moe and Shemp. Healy was not sure at first. But Jerry was so eager that he shaved off his hair and mustache and ran onto the stage during Healy's show. This convinced Healy to hire him. Jerome took the stage name Curly.
The new group of Moe, Larry, and Curly performed with Ted Healy for the first time on August 27, 1932. In early 1933, Healy and the Stooges were hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). They added their funny antics to movies and short films.
Life After Ted Healy
After several movies with MGM, Ted Healy decided to focus on his solo career. In 1934, his Stooges, now called "The Three Stooges," signed with Columbia Pictures. They stayed there until December 1957, making 190 comedy short films.
When Healy left, Moe became the leader of the team. His character was a short-tempered bully who often used slapstick violence on the other two Stooges. But even though his on-screen character seemed mean, Moe was very loyal and protective of his friends in real life. He also said in his autobiography that his angry on-screen personality was not like his real self.
Moe was also a smart businessman. He invested the money he earned from his film career. The Stooges were paid a set amount for each short film. They did not receive extra payments (royalties) later when the films were shown again. Columbia Pictures owned the rights to their films. However, in the 1970s, Columbia allowed the Stooges to do live tours when they were not filming. This greatly increased their yearly income.
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Columbia released its first Three Stooges short, Woman Haters (1934). In this film, their characters were not fully developed yet. It was more of a romantic comedy than a typical Stooge film. Later, when the Stooges became famous, their names were put first in the movie titles.
Their next film, Punch Drunks (1934), was the only short film written entirely by the Three Stooges. In it, Curly plays a boxer who gets angry every time he hears "Pop Goes the Weasel". Their next short, Men in Black (also 1934), was a funny version of hospital dramas. It was their only film to be nominated for an Academy Award. They made eight short films each year. These included Three Little Pigskins (1934) with a young Lucille Ball, Pop Goes the Easel (1935), and Hoi Polloi (1935). In Hoi Polloi, two professors try to turn the Stooges into gentlemen.
The 1940s and Beyond
In the 1940s, The Three Stooges made several anti-Nazi short films. These included You Nazty Spy! (1940), which was Moe's favorite. Other films were I'll Never Heil Again (1941) and They Stooge to Conga (1943). Moe's acting as Adolf Hitler was a highlight in these films. Their first anti-Nazi film came out nine months before Charlie Chaplin's movie The Great Dictator.
On May 6, 1946, during the filming of Half-Wits Holiday (1947), Curly suffered a stroke. He had already had some strokes before. Shemp, Moe's older brother, agreed to return to the group. He would stay until Curly was well enough to come back. Curly did appear in Hold That Lion! (1947) in a small part. This was the only Three Stooges film to feature all three Howard brothers: Moe, Curly, and Shemp. Curly suffered more strokes and passed away at age 48 on January 18, 1952.
After Shemp rejoined, Moe, Shemp, and Larry filmed a TV pilot called Jerks of All Trades (1949). It was meant to be a weekly TV show where the Stooges would try a different job each week. But the pilot was never shown. Columbia Pictures stopped it because their contract said they could not be in a TV series that would compete with their short films.
The Three Stooges' short films remained popular in the 1950s. Shemp starred in 73 of these comedies. The Stooges also appeared in a Western movie called Gold Raiders (1951). Moe also helped produce some Western and musical films during this time.
On November 22, 1955, Shemp passed away from a heart attack at age 60. This meant the Stooges needed another member. The producer used old film footage of Shemp to finish four more movies. Joe Palma filled in for Shemp in these scenes. Then, in 1956, Joe Besser was hired to join the group. Moe had wanted a "two-stooge" act, but the studio head wanted to replace Shemp.
Joe Besser was already a known comedy actor. Joe, Larry, and Moe made 16 short films together until December 1957. After this, the making of short films ended. Moe stayed busy and was hired as an associate producer. Stories that he had to take a low-level job at Columbia are not true.
Television and New Adventures
Columbia Pictures sold the Three Stooges' short films to television. This quickly gave the Stooges a new audience of young fans. Moe Howard, always a good businessman, put together a new Stooges act. He brought in Joe DeRita, a burlesque and screen comedian. Joe was called "Curly-Joe" because he looked a bit like Moe's late brother Curly.
Many children's TV shows started showing the Stooges' films. The films were so popular that some young fans tried to copy Moe's slapping and poking. The Stooges had to warn them not to try these actions at home.
The new trio starred in six full-length movies: Have Rocket, Will Travel (1959), Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961), The Three Stooges Meet Hercules and The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962), The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963), and The Outlaws Is Coming (1965).
Moe, Larry, and Curly-Joe also made live appearances. They had notable guest roles in movies like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and 4 for Texas (1963). They also tried a children's cartoon show called The New Three Stooges. This show had cartoons mixed with live-action segments of the Stooges.
During this time, Moe and the Stooges appeared on many TV shows. These included The Steve Allen Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. By the late 1960s, they were older and could no longer risk serious injuries from slapstick comedy.
Later Years and Legacy
The men received payments for their later work. They also continued to get most of the money from sales of Stooges merchandise. When his show business work slowed down, Moe sold real estate. However, he still took small acting roles in movies, like Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title (1966). He also appeared on The Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s.
In one episode of The Mike Douglas Show, Moe made a surprise appearance. He asked, "Whatever happened to the Three Stooges?" When recognized, he combed his hair into his famous style.
The Stooges tried to make a final film in 1969 called Kook's Tour. This was a documentary about Howard, Larry, and Curly Joe traveling the US and meeting fans. But filming stopped on January 9, 1970, when Larry suffered a major stroke. He passed away on January 24, 1975. Enough film of Larry was shot for Kook's Tour to be released later. After Larry's stroke, Moe asked Emil Sitka, a long-time supporting actor, to replace Larry. But this final group never filmed anything.
Personal Life
On June 7, 1925, Moe Howard married Helen Schonberger, who was a cousin of Harry Houdini. The next year, Helen convinced Moe to retire because she was pregnant. Moe tried different "normal" jobs, but none of them worked out well. He soon returned to working with Ted Healy.
Moe and Helen had two children: Joan Howard (born April 2, 1927 – died September 21, 2021) and Paul Howard (born July 8, 1935).
Death and Legacy
Moe Howard passed away from lung cancer at age 77 on May 4, 1975. He died in Los Angeles, just over three months after Larry Fine's death. He was buried in an outdoor crypt at Culver City's Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery. His wife, Helen Schonberger, passed away on October 31, 1975, and was buried next to him. When he died, Moe was working on his autobiography, which was later released as Moe Howard and the Three Stooges.
Moe Howard and The Three Stooges received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 30, 1983.
Moe Howard has been played by actors in movies. Paul Ben-Victor played him in The Three Stooges, a TV movie from 2000. In the 2012 film The Three Stooges, Chris Diamantopoulos played the adult Moe, and Skyler Gisondo played the young Moe.
See also
In Spanish: Moe Howard para niños
