Moe Howard. Larry Fine. And Curly Howard. For decades these are the men that audiences around the world and across generations associate with the zany and comedic talent of The Three Stooges. The legacy of these three incredibly gifted and talented comedians continues to entertain general audiences and inspire future creatives. They left this world with over 200 shorts that will make anyone laugh. But what about Ted Healy?
Charles Ernest Lee Nash had been interested in show business since he was fifteen. Nash performed in vaudeville routines with the Annette Kellerman Diving Girls in the summer of 1912 with his friend Moses Howard. The Diving Girls act would come to an end after an accident occurred on stage. While the job didn’t last long, the two young men’s love of showbusiness lasted a lifetime.
Nash and Howard went their separate ways. Nash would change his stage name to Ted Healy, and create his own vaudeville comedy act, which would become a huge hit and Healy would become the highest-paid vaudeville performer of the 1920s.
Howard was performing anywhere he could get a gig. In 1914, he joined his brother Shemp in bars, and later he and Shemp would perform on Mississippi showboats during the summers. In 1921, Healy was looking to expand his act with additional acrobats. Moe answered Healy’s ad. Even though he wasn’t an acrobat, Healy hired his old friend as an individual he could call out from the crowd seemingly at random and make jokes with, otherwise known as a stooge. Two years later, Healy and Moe Howard were enjoying their success when one show, Moe saw his brother Shemp in the crowd. The brothers were heckling each other back and forth. Seeing how much the audience was enjoying the act, Healy hired Shemp Howard as an additional member of the troupe. Their act was simple. Healy would play the straight man, who’s trying to sing or tell jokes while his assistants would keep interrupting him, causing him to explode.
Ted Healy and His Southern Gentlemen performed shows on Broadway and nationwide. While performing in Chicago, they met a fellow vaudeville performer Larry Fineberg, otherwise known as Larry Fine. Shemp had to temporarily leave the play they were performing, A Night in Spain, and Healy asked Fine if he could fill in.
After a few years of performing across the country and members temporarily leaving, the group consisted of Healy, Fine, and the two Howard brothers. They would get their break in Hollywood with the 1930 film Soup to Nuts in a minor role. The film was not a success, but the Stooges' performances were singled out as memorable, leading Fox to offer the trio a contract, without Healy. Unsurprisingly, Healy was furious and told Fox executives that they were his employees. The offer was withdrawn but the damage was done. The stooges would begin their own act with their own tour. Healy tried to take legal action against the three to no avail. Healy would try to save his act with replacements, however, the replacements were inexperienced and were not as well-received as Howard, Fine, and Howard.
In 1932, Healy stopped trying to replace them and instead joined them by reaching a new agreement with Moe Howard, who was now the business manager for the group. The four of them booked a gig in a production of The Passing Show of 1932 from producer Jacob J. Shubert. After years of highs and lows, things were going great for Ted Healy and His Stooges, until they weren’t.
Healy was unhappy with the production and left the show. Shemp was already unhappy with Healy, believing him to be an abrasive and ill-tempered alcoholic. Leaving the show was the tipping point, and Shemp left Ted Healy and His Stooges to stay with the show and pursue a solo career. Their act was now one stooge short. Moe would suggest that his younger brother, Jerry. The mythologized story says Healy did not think Jerry, nicknamed Curly, was funny because he didn’t look like a comedian with his long hair and handlebar mustache, and Jerry left and returned five minutes later with a full-shaven head, and the three men proceeded to improvise. Curly had become a stooge.
In 1933, the Healy and His Stooges made a successful run in Hollywood after signing a deal with MGM to appear in shorts and feature films. The shorts were successful, and though their film roles were cameos, they added some needed comic relief. The contract with MGM expired in 1934, and with that so did their professional relationship with Ted Healy, after years of his abrasive behavior. Moe, Larry, and Curly would sign a new contract with Columbia Pictures, now under the name The Three Stooges.
From 1934 to 1946, The Three Stooges produced over 90 shorts for Columbia, and are widely considered some of the funniest short films ever made. While their contemporaries like Laurel & Hardy and The Marx Brothers were producing full-length features, The Three Stooges were only starring in shorts, as Moe believed that their slapstick humor worked much better in short form. The Stooges' comedy was bold and outrageous, marked by cartoonish violence like slapping, punching, eye-poking, and hair-pulling, all enhanced by exaggerated sound effects. They frequently used hammers, saws, and various sharp and blunt objects to attack each other. Although critics dismissed their lowbrow anarchy for many years, the group's enduring popularity eventually led many to acknowledge their expert comic timing and mastery of burlesque-style humor.
The Three Stooges lasted until 1970 with over 200 short films. Moe, Larry, and Curly, as well as Shemp, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRitta who all replaced Curly after his death, left a defining legacy with their work on The Three Stooges. Their timeless antics continue to entertain generations that can be enjoyed by a grandparent or grandchild. But what about Ted?
After Healy and the Stooges more or less amicably parted ways in March 1934, he starred in many Hollywood productions with costars like Peter Lorre in Mad Love, Marion Davies and Gary Cooper in Operator 13, and Clarke Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, and Spencer Tracy in San Francisco. Healy even tried to make another group of Stooges in San Francisco with Jimmy Brewster, Red Pearson, and Sammy Glasser, though it was cut from the film. Even without stooges, Ted Healy was able to build a solo career for himself within three years.
Outside of film, his life was filled with alcohol and violence. His vices are what caused the Stooges to leave him. When he was drunk he would do dumb things like get into fights and even cause problems with the mafia. He had insulted Lucky Luciano’s Italian heritage, as a gag wanted to knock off one of Al Capone’s safes, and worst, had an affair with actress Thelma Todd, who happened to be married to Lucky Luciano’s right-hand man Pat’ DiCicco. When Todd turned up dead in 1935, Healy swore off relationships with actresses, and would later meet and marry a UCLA student named Betty Hickman. Healy did not swear off getting drunk and causing problems.
To celebrate the birth of his first child, he went out drinking to celebrate, but unfortunately, he did not go home that night. The next morning he was found dead at the age of 41. The cause of death was widely speculated. MGM initially stated that he had a heart attack, but his body was covered in bruise marks and cuts, so it was speculated he was assaulted. Then an autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be acute alcoholism. However, it is largely believed that, allegedly, Healy ran into Diccio, fellow actor and alcoholic Wallace Beery, and producer Albert R. Broccoli and they beat him so badly that he would go into a coma and later die. Sources have never confirmed the presence of Diccio or Beery, though Broccoli confirmed they were at the same bar and had a small scuffle. Some believed that MGM was covering for their biggest star Wallace Beery, including Healy’s wife Betty, then an extra for MGM, who went to the press to complain about MGM’s lack of interest in her husband’s death. She was fired from MGM and never worked again in Hollywood. Shemp’s wife Babe believes the Stooges knew about the coverup too, however, she thinks they were too intimidated by Diccio to speak up.
No matter what the truth is about Ted Healy’s death, the legacy he left behind is complicated. While everyone was mostly professional, Healy burned bridges with his behavior which resulted in Shemp’s original departure. His abusive behavior and alcoholism made him difficult to work with, and his fear of being overshadowed by anyone caused issues for others’ potential success. However, credit must be given to Healy. His childhood friendship with Moe Howard let him discover Shemp and later Curly. He saw something in Larry Fine, knowing he would fit into the group’s dynamic. Their years of performing in front of live audiences allowed them to see what made people laugh, improvise, and perfect their craft. Through Healy, they were able to get into Hollywood and catch the eyes of general audiences. Without Healy, there would be no Three Stooges. While he’s left a mixed legacy, it’s important to acknowledge what he’s done for comedy and the world.
Sources
The Three Stooges Scrapbook (2012). A comprehensive collection of The Three Stooges' history, memorabilia, and key moments, capturing the cultural impact of the comedy troupe.
The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, from Amalgamated Morons to American Icons (2002). Provides an in-depth exploration of the Three Stooges' journey from vaudeville origins to television fame, highlighting their influence on American humor.
"Nobody’s Stooge: Recounts the Life and Death of Ted Healy" – Daily Democrat, February 27, 2015.
This article delves into Ted Healy's life and career, examining his pivotal role in creating The Three Stooges and discussing theories around his untimely death.
"The Three Stooges" – Encyclopædia Britannica.A concise overview of The Three Stooges’ careers, cataloging the group’s evolution and its members, including an analysis of their style, impact, and historical context.
"The Three Stooges" – Empire Magazine (via Wayback Machine), archived on September 24, 2015.
An Empire Magazine feature that chronicles the group’s legacy in film and television, offering insights into their comedic style and enduring appeal.