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Whatever happened to Curly Howard? The tragic life of one of the Three Stooges

Posted on February 13, 2008 
Filed Under Whatever Happened To

I was watching the Three Stooges with my daughter the other day, and even though she‚Äôs only 3 years old, she loves them. It doesn’t seem to bother her that the films are black and white; it’s funny and she gets it. That’s what good comedy is all about isn’t it? Of the three, she likes Curly the most. I had heard from my dad that Curly did not have a great life, being a sick man and dying relatively young, so I though it would be interesting to find a little more about him.

Curly (born Jerome Lester Horwitz) was introduced to comedy from an early age by his older brothers Moe and Shemp, who wanted to encourage him to be a comedian. Later his interest in comedy grew stronger as he watched Shemp, Moe and Larry perform as the Three Stooges. When Shemp decided to leave, Moe suggested that Curly (Babe as Moe called him), would make an excellent replacement.

I bet you never thought of this, but before Curly was one of the Stooges, he had long, wavy hair and a mustache. He was accepted into the group under the condition that he had to shave them. Opposite of what you would imagine, Curly was an introvert person, did not speak on the set between takes, was shy and the opposite of the crazy TV character we know. He abstained from crazy behavior in private life and acted like this only for his performances, or when he got together with his brothers, Moe and Shemp, or his closest friends.

As in many other Hollywood stories, success destroyed his life. In a few words: sex, drugs and rock and roll (the 1940’s version). He started drinking heavily and was very uncomfortable with the way he looked. Larry said that Curly wore a hat in public, because he felt like a kid with his hair shaved off. Curly also had money-spending problems; he spent it all on alcohol, women, cars and houses (it’s easy to think about other modern comedians that have followed similar steps: John Belushi, Sam Kinison, Chris Farley, etc. to name a few).

Another of his weaknesses was women. The guy married three times (plus a first marriage that was annulled), and it was known, that some of the women he got involved with were only interested in his money (not until a few years before his death he married someone that really cared for him).

During the early 1940‚Äôs, Curly ate and drank as if there was no tomorrow. As a result, he started gaining lots of weight and his blood pressure skyrocketed. In 1945, he was diagnosed as having extreme hypertension, a retinal hemorrhage and obesity. In 1946, he suffered a stroke during the filming of his 97th Three Stooges comedy, Half-Wits’ Holiday. In 1949, his health took a severe turn for the worse when he suffered his second in a series of strokes. His doctors considered doing spinal surgery on him since the stroke had left him partially paralyzed, but they decided not to.

At this point, Curly was confined to a wheelchair and was put on a diet of (listen to this) boiled rice and apples, with the hope of bringing down his weight and high blood pressure (and he did loose a lot of weight). When his condition did not improve, he was admitted into the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in 1950, where he would return periodically during the following two years. After this, Curly returned home confined to his bed as his health continued to get worse.

In February 1951, he was placed in a nursing home and later that year he suffered another stroke and was moved out (by Moe’s orders). In April of 1951 he was transferred to North Hollywood Hospital and Sanitarium. Some months later, in December, the hospital supervisor advised the family that Curly was becoming a problem due to mental deterioration and that they could no longer care for him. It was suggested that he be placed in a mental hospital, but Moe did not allow it. On January 7, 1952, he was moved to the Baldy View Sanitarium in San Gabriel. Curly Howard, the Stooge, the icon, the great comedian, died 11 days later on January 18, 1952 at the still tender age of forty-eight.

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