Samuel Howard
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| Shemp Howard | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 4, 1895 Bensonhurst, New York |
Samuel "Shemp Howard" Horwitz (March 4, 1895 – November 22, 1955) was part of the Three Stooges comedy team. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Eastern European Jewish accent. He was the older brother of Moe Howard and third stooge in the early years of the act. He would rejoin the trio again in 1946, after youngest brother Curly Howard suffered a stroke.
Shemp, along with brothers Moe and Jerry (Curly), was born in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York. He was the third born of the five Horwitz brothers and of Levite and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. Shemp played his somewhat homely appearance to comic effect, often allowing his hair to fall in disarray or mugging grotesquely on film. Notoriously phobic, his fears included dogs, airplanes, automobiles, and water.
The first major film he was in was Soup to Nuts (1930) as a bumbling fireman, the only film in which he plays one of Ted Healy's stooges. Tired of Healy's shennanigans, Shemp left Healy's act in 1932 to pursue a solo career in film. This turned out to be very successful, as Shemp performed with such comic greats as Fatty Arbuckle, W.C. Fields, and the comedy team Abbott and Costello (all of whom would reportedly trim his scene-stealing material). He also attempted, unsuccessfully, to create his own group of "stooges," in the Van Beuren musical comedy short Knife Of The Party in 1934. He also played a few dramatic roles, such as his small role in the John Wayne film Pittsburgh in 1942. In 1946, he reluctantly replaced his brother Curly as the third stooge in the film shorts. Initially, Shemp rejoined the Stooges on a temporary basis until Curly recovered from a debilitating stroke. However, as Curly's condition worsened, it became apparent that Shemp's association with the Stooges would be permanent. (Prior to replacing Curly on film, Shemp had filled in for his brother for some personal appearances in the early 1940s.)
Shemp is often compared to Curly, but his comedic stylings were also unique, and some fans even prefer his comic style over Curly's. He starred in seventy-seven Three Stooges shorts and appeared with Moe and Larry in the film Gold Raiders (1951). Shemp suffered a minor stroke in 1952, which appeared to have only a minor effect in some of his last films with the Stooges (largely remakes of earlier films that reused footage to save costs). Many fans point out that in his later remakes, or "cheapies," Shemp looks weak, pale and often disoriented.
While returning home from a boxing match in a cab on November 22, 1955, Shemp died of a massive heart attack (according to his death certificate; his family maintains he died of a cerebral hemorrhage). Legend has it that Shemp was lighting a cigar after telling a joke, and then suddenly slumped over in his friend (Al Winston)'s lap. Shemp was 60 years of age.
Several Three Stooges films were in production at the time of his death; in order to complete them, longtime Stooge supporting actor Joe Palma stood in for Shemp and was filmed mostly from the back. This form of cinematic trickery came to be known as "shemping". The term "fake shemp" has been adopted later in cinematography to refer to or credit someone who appears in a film under heavy make-up, filmed from the back, or perhaps only showing an arm or a foot.
In a 2000 TV movie, Shemp was played by John Kassir.
[edit] Further reading
- Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [1], (Citadel Press, 1977).
- The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon [2], (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
- The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [3](Citadel Press, 1994).
- The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [4](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
- One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [5], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).
