Fine By Me

 

Note:  Back in April, this blog profiled the life and grave of Moe Howard, going into great detail about The Three Stooges.  Since a lot of their history has already been discussed here, this post will focus primarily on Larry's early years and his post-Stooge life.

Larry Fine was born Louis Feinberg in Philadelphia on October 5, 1902.  He was the son of Russian immigrants who owned a watch repair and jewelry shop. 

When Larry was very young, he attempted to drink a bottle of acid in the family shop.  His father instinctively knocked it out of the boy's hand, splashing Larry's arm in the process.  It caused extensive damage to the muscles in his forearm.  In an effort to help their son reclaim the strength he had lost, Fine's parents gave him violin lessons, a talent that he would master and carry with him throughout his career.

By 1928, he was playing the violin on the vaudeville stage.  That year, while performing in Chicago, he met Ted Healy and Shemp Howard, the latter of whom was preparing to leave vaudeville for a few months.  Healy, impressed with Larry's performance, asked him to serve as a replacement "stooge" during the interim.  Fine accepted and was teamed with fellow stooges Bobby Pinkus and Sam "Moody" Braun.  

Upon Shemp's return, Healy opted to keep Larry as part of the act.  He also brought in Shemp's brother Moe, and the three began touring as Ted Healy and His Racketeers.  In 1930, they went to Hollywood for their first film together, Soup to Nuts.  Check out a preview here.  Two years later, Shemp left the trio and was replaced by brother Curly.  

With the key players all in place, production of the Three Stooges shorts began in 1932.  For the next twenty-five years, they'd go through several iterations, ultimately producing 190 films.  

While Moe remained Moe throughout the series, Larry's part evolved over time.  During the Curly years, he often served as a foil between his fellow stooges, and was more of a reactor than an actor.  But after Curly's departure from the series, Larry was given more screen time, and often served as the focal point of the shorts.  

Their last short was called Flying Saucer Daffy, released in 1958.  It starred Larry, Moe and Joe DeRita, the last of the replacement stooges.  A few days after the film was completed, the stooges were unceremoniously fired by Columbia Pictures.

During the 60s, the stooges attempted a number of comebacks, including a TV series called The New 3 Stooges and another called Kook's Tour. The actors were getting up in years however, and it was becoming difficult to do the kind of slapstick that they were known for.  Additionally, Larry began exhibiting signs of mental impairment.  As a result, neither project was long lived.

In 1970, Larry suffered a debilitating stroke, which left him paralyzed on the left side of his body and brought his 40+ year career to an end.  Needing further care than his family could provide for him, he moved into a retirement community called the Motion Picture Country House.  He spent his final years completing his autobiography Stroke of Luck while making himself available for visits with Stooge fans.  Of his role in the shorts, he told the fans "it wasn't fun, it was work - but it paid off good, so I enjoyed it."

Larry would suffer additional strokes, one of which ultimately took his life on January 24, 1975.  He was 72 years old.  Moe would pass just four months later.

He was interred at Forest Lawn Glendale in the Freedom Mausoleum.

Photo courtesy of the internet.

Location: Patriots Terrace, Corridor of the Patriots,
Sanctuary of Liberation, Crypt #22247, bottom row

Rest in peace, you knucklehead.

Trivia

• Larry's life has been the the subject of two additional biographies currently available on Amazon.
    * One Fine Stooge: Larry Fine's Frizzly Life in Pictures, by Stephen Cox and Jim Terry.
    * Larry, The Stooge in the Middle, by Morris Moe Feinberg.
  
  
• Larry became so proficient in the violin that his parents considered sending him to a conservatory in Europe.  The outbreak of World War I however would put an end to that plan.  While he genuinely performed in the Stooge films, his co-stars merely faked it.
  
  
• As a teenager, Larry took up boxing as another way of strengthening his damaged arm, even winning a professional bout.  His father, disappointed with his son's chosen hobby, ended it shortly after it began.
  
  
• Larry's distinctive hairstyle was suggested by Stooge front man Ted Healy, who thought it would work for the act.
  
  
• Joe Besser is the only other Stooge buried at Forest Lawn Glendale.  In fact, he's buried on a hill just outside the Freedom Mausoleum.