Moe Howard
Moe Howard or Moses Horowitz was the teams leader. He was known his aggressive attitude and his bowl shaped hair dew as well as his violent demeanor. He was born in Bensonhurst, New York on June 19, 1897. He was the son of a real estate interpreter (Jennie Horowitz) and a clothing cutter (Solomon Horowitz). Moe was the fourth eldest person in his family, two of his brothers (Shemp and Curly) also entered show business, the other two (Jack and Irving) however did not.
Moe’s black mop was that of his original hair color, he just did not choose to make it visible until he got into show business. He started off with black until he dyed it brownish red, then when he entered show business he grew the black out again. During his adolesence his hair was shoulder length and curly (change from the way his hair was as a stooge). He was constantly taunted and teased, but his mother liked it for she longed for a girl. So one day sick of the taunting he was accustomed to he took a razor and cut the curls off. After he did this his hair was a sloppy copy of the black bowl that has become his identification.
Although Moe was a bright boy he did not like to attend school most of the time he played hooky and went to the matinee at the theatre often accompanied by his brother Shemp. He graduated from a grammar school called P.S. 163 in Brooklyn but only attended high school a few months this story is one very similar to his brother Shemp. Later his parents persuaded him to take up an occupation at Baron DeHirsch Trade School he learned to be an electrician while his brother was taught to be a plumber, they never used their knowledge for these subjects for their career (Why do I state the obvious?).
In 1909 Moe started his journey looking for a job in show business. He went to Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, New York in a conclusion to his perseverance he was given roles in movies such as John Bunny, Flora Flynch, Earle William, Herbert Rawlinson, and Walter Johnson (Who the heck are they?).
In 1909 Moe met Ted Healy for the first time. They were acting together in a skit called the Diving Girls, over the summer they became close friends (the act only lasted one summer). Shemp had already known Healy because they had attended school together, now you know how the three friends met and you certainly know what their future together will be.
In the year of 1914 the Howard brothers decided to become singers. They were quite successful in fact they even sang with the famous Irish tenor Babe Tuttle. Moe sang baritone, while Shemp sang lead (this is one of the very few cases in which Moe was not in charge). They sang every night they could until their father found out and they were not allowed to sing for anyone anymore.
In 1914 Moe performed on showboat in the play Huck Finn, he then followed up with several more showboat performances. Moe and Shemp’s most famous attempt at a two-reel comedy was probably the blackface act they were very successful with this act until Shemp had to go to war. But Shemp’s involvement in the war was short lived due to the fact that he was a bed wetter.
In 1922 Ted Healy met up with Moe and Shemp and they formed the stooge act. They partnership with Ted lasted almost ten years until They were on the J.J Shubert’s Passing Show in which was Shemp’s last perfomance with Healy. Healy got in a fight with Shubert Healy walked off with Larry and Moe but no Shemp. Shemp was dissatisfied with Healy’s drunken bouts and arguments.
On June 7, 1925 Moe married Helen Schonberger, a cousin of Harry Houdini. Moe had two children Joan, and Paul. He was married sixty years to his wife and she died only six months after him on October 31, 1975.
Moe died on May 4, 1975.
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