Despite the jolly demeanor displayed on screen, in reality, Shemp’s life was actually heavily impacted by his many phobias. According to Shemp’s wife, Gertrude “Babe” Howard, her husband was “just a big old ‘fraidy cat.” Throughout his life, Shemp Howard suffered from a long list of phobias, some of which included being “afraid of his own shadow,” a fear of cars, planes, dogs and even water.
Much of these fears can be traced back to traumatic experiences in his childhood, such as his fear of automobiles, a phobia which first began following a terrifying car crash the comedian was in at a young age. As a result of this particular incident, Shemp never got his driver’s license. Additionally, during filming of the Three Stooges, in all scenes involving Shemp behind the wheel, the moving car being filmed was actually always towed, never once driven by Shemp.
Replacing Shemp
In 1925, Shemp eventually made the decision to leave his dual-brother act with Moe. During a performance attended by Shemp, Moe and Healy, the group quickly found their replacement: Larry Fine. After being discovered by the group during his stage performance, confident he found Shemp’s replacement Stooge, Healy offered Larry Shemp’s position for a salary of $90 a week.
While Larry quickly accepted this offer, Shemp would later join Moe and his replacement, thus forming the original Three Stooges.
Larry Fine’s Commemorative Mural
Reflective of the work of the Three Stooges, Larry Fine’s commemorative mural in Philadelphia actually began as a joke. However, with the help of fellow Philadelphians, who petitioned to honor fellow native Larry Fine in his home city, the Larry Fine mural was born. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Fine grew up at 3rd and South Streets, located in South Philadelphia. As such, it was at the corner of 3rd and South Streets, above a restaurant called Jon’s Bar and Grill, that mural artist David McShane painted the mural celebrating and honoring the life and work of this talented stooge.
Started in 1999, the large mural depicts Fine with his trademark dazed expression on his face, violin in hand. This commemorative piece of art was dedicated to the late actor in a ceremony, on October 26, 1999, and was attended by Fine’s sister. Fine’s mural was not completed until October 19, 2005, decades after his death, in January of 1975.
An Ironic Death
Ironically reflecting his fear of cars, Shemp would actually die in a car, though not in a car crash. On November 22, 1955, while driving home from a Los Angeles boxing match with a friend, Shemp would tell his last and final joke.
Soon after lighting his cigar and telling his joke, Shemp suddenly slumped over, appearing dead. Though the friend first believed this to be another one of his pranks, this time, the actor was actually dead.
The Many Expressions Of Curly
As the most popular of the three stooges, Curly Howard was the brains behind the majority of the Stooges’ iconic catchphrases, the most well known being nyuk, nyuk, nyuk; nyahh-ahhh-ahhh; a WISE guy, eh?; say a few syllables; oh, look; I’ll moider you; and soitenly!
Even after his death, the Stooges continued to use many of Curly’s most-loved expressions during their performances.