American actor and
frizzy-haired Stooge (1902-1975). Real name: Louis Feinberg. He was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first of four children, one of whom died prematurely. His parents owned a
watch repair and
jewelry shop. He had an
accident-prone
childhood, once falling through the glass top of a jewelry display case (he was uninjured) and later trying to drink from an
acid bottle. His father caught him in time and knocked the bottle from his hand, but some of the acid splashed onto his arm, leaving the
toddler badly burned. After a
skin graft was done on his arm, his
doctors recommended that he be taught to play the
violin, hoping that the arm movements would strengthen his damaged muscles.
Larry became more interested in
performing as he grew older, putting on
comedy and
musical shows for anyone he could. His talents as a
violinist were considered very
impressive, and when he was just ten years old, he performed a
solo of "
Humoresque," backed by a full
orchestra, at a
children's concert at Philadelphia's
Roseland Dance Hall. He eventually learned to play
piano,
clarinet,
saxophone, and several
brass instruments. In time, Larry was able to turn his
talents toward making
money. He competed in local
amateur night contests and was a frequent winner. When he was 15, he also sang along with
movie slides at several Philadelphia theaters, earning two bucks per performance. Later, he developed an
act where he played the violin while performing a
Russian dance. On top of all that, he fought over 40 bouts as a
lightweight boxer!
Larry met his future wife, Mabel, while he was working
vaudeville in the early 1920s. They and Mabel's sister, Loretta, put their own act together called "
The Haney Sisters and Fine." While they were playing
Chicago,
Ted Healy,
Moe Howard, and
Shemp Howard (long before they were called
the Three Stooges) caught their show. That night, Shemp announced that he was quitting the act, and Moe suggested Larry as a replacement. Healy offered Larry $90 a week to join his act and an additional
tenner if he'd get rid of the violin. Larry accepted the offer the next day. Not too much later,
Curly was added to the bill, and the classic Stooge lineup was born.
Larry had a very
laid-back personality (much like his
onscreen persona) and had a bit of a
reputation as a
goof-off. Part of that may have been because of his chronic
tardiness, and part may be because, compared to Moe's undying dedication to the Stooges,
anyone would look like a goof-off.
Larry and Mabel loved throwing
parties and held
midnight suppers for all their friends every
Christmas. He was also a
chatterer who rarely quit talking when he was off-stage. He was also, however, an atrocious
businessman who always spent his money as quickly as he could, either buying luxuries,
gambling it away, or giving it away to
friends or
shysters. Because of his free-spending ways, his family lived in
hotels in
Atlantic City and
Hollywood for years, and he didn't buy a home until the late 1940s. In fact, when
Columbia quit making Stooge comedies in 1958, Larry was almost forced into
bankruptcy.
After Curly suffered a series of
strokes that forced him to retire from the group in 1946, Larry came up with the idea that he, Moe, and Shemp donate $50 of their weekly
salary to help
support Curly.
Besides spending money, Larry's chief
hobbies included
sports (he was a fan of the
Los Angeles Dodgers and regularly attended
boxing matches) and
music -- he was actually a music teacher, focusing on
jazz.
Larry died of a massive
stroke in 1975 in
Woodland Hills, California. Moe died only a few months later.
Research from http://www.stoogeworld.com/_Biographies/Larry.htm and the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)