Shemp Howard Biography

Fast Facts

• Attended the Baron De Hirsch Trade School with his brother Moe, where he studied to be a plumber
• Performed in vaudeville and amateur acts with his brother Moe until 1922, when his former schoolmate Ted Healy asked them to join his act at the Brooklyn Prospect Theater
• Returned to The Three Stooges in 1946 after a series of strokes left Curly unable to perform
• Best known as a member of the slapstick comedy group The Three Stooges
• Starred in numerous Vitaphone comedies in 1932 and played Knobby Walsh in the "Joe Palooka" series after leaving The Three Stooges
• Appeared in several feature films for Universal in the 1940s, including "Hellzapoppin!" and "Buck Privates․"
• Appeared in the John Wayne film "Pittsburgh" in 1942 and the W․C․ Fields film "The Bank Dick" in 1940
• Appeared with Moe in a short called "Spring Fever" in 1919 with Pittsburgh Pirates baseball player Honus Wagner, which has since been lost
• Got the name "Shemp" from his mother, who would pronounce the name "Sam" that way in her thick European accent
• The Hollywood filming term "get a Shemp" evolved after Columbia Studios needed to create four Three Stooges shorts after Shemp died, and so had Joe Palma stand in to "be Shemp" during filming