Moe Howard biography

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Actor. Born Moses Horwitz on June 19, 1897 in Brooklyn, New York and is best known as member of The Three Stooges. One of five sons born to a Levite and Lithuanian Jewish family, Moe Howard was an excellent student with a prolific memory. As a child, his mother refused to cut his hair, so he finally did it himself with a pair of scissors, unveiling the trademark helmet he sported throughout his career in comedy.

Moe was bitten by the theater bug early and dropped out of high school to pursue acting. After several odd jobs, including gofer and lounge singer, he joined a vaudeville act with Ted Healy in 1921. By 1925, his older brother Shemp and vaudeville violinist Larry Fine had joined the troupe, which was billed as Ted Healy and His Stooges. The group's first film, Soup to Nuts, was released in 1930. Eventually, Moe's younger brother Jerome joined the act as Curly, and Healy left to pursue a solo career.

In 1931, The Three Stooges signed with Columbia Pictures and had an incredibly successful run, making 190 short films by 1957. Moe's character, a short-tempered bully prone to slapstick violence, led the charge. Moe Howard appeared in more than 250 films during his 66-year career. In 1956, following Shemp??s heart attack, Joe Besser was hired to take his place. Besser was then replaced by Joe DeRita, known as Curly Jo. The new Three Stooges enjoyed a revival, starring in several full-length feature films, including Have Rocket, Will Travel, The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze, and The Outlaws Is Coming!

By 1965 Moe Howard's show business life was slowing down, and he began a second career selling real estate. He continued to appear on talk shows and in small roles until his death of lung cancer on May 4, 1975, at age 77. Moe was survived by his two children, Joan and Paul, whom he had with wife Helene Schonberger. He and the Three Stooges received a posthumous Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983.

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