Nobody's Stooge: Ted Healy

By Bill Cassara

Ted Healy had a successful, if mysterious life. Starting from the lowest rung of show business, he soon conquered the stages of vaudeville, Broadway and the silver screen. Healy's biography also serves as the backstory to the rise of what became The Three Stooges act. He had an eagle eye in spotting and cultivating the talents of Shemp, Moe, Larry and Curly, who served their apprenticeship in his act off and on from 1923 to 1934. As "father" of the act, he took his stooges to Broadway and Hollywood. Healy is the tree around which some mighty acorns fell. Healy died at age 41, four days after his only child was born in 1937. His passing quickly became one of the most notorious of Hollywood's celebrity death scandals. Was it foul play or natural causes? Author Bill Cassara, a retired law enforcement professional, explores all the possibilities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BearManor Media
• Release date: Jul 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311464347

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Nobody’s Stooge: Ted Healy

© 2015 Bill Cassara. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Front cover photo: Background, Left to right: Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Curly Howard. Foreground, Left to right: Bonnie Bonnell, Ted Healy. Courtesy of Joan Howard Mauer

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Table of Contents

Ted Healy — Shemp, Moe, Larry and Curly Timeline

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Prologue: Crossroads

Chapter 1: A Born Funnyman

Chapter 2: The Vaudeville Stage

Chapter 3: Betty, Moe, Shemp and the Road to Big Time

Chapter 4: Broadway Melodies

Chapter 5: A Night in Spain

Chapter 6: A Night in Venice

Chapter 7: Spread-Out

Chapter 8: Legal Problems

Chapter 9: Shemp, Larry, Moe…and Curly

Chapter 10: Ladies and Gentlemen, Ted Healy (whew!)

Chapter 11: He Who Gives Slaps…

Chapter 12: Baseball and Selected Films, 1934–1935

Chapter 13: A Night in the Pokey

Chapter 14: Our Relations

Chapter 15: Selected Healy Movies, 1936-1937

Chapter 16: Hooray for Hollywood

Chapter 17: Domestic Life and Strife

Chapter 18: The Curious Death of Mr. Healy

Chapter 19: The Great Ted Healy Death Mystery

Chapter 20: Aftermath — Where’s the Money?

Appendices

Ted Healy Stageography

Ted Healy Filmography

Bibliography

Ode to Ted Healy

About the Author

Image1

Ted Healy from San Francisco 1936. Courtesy of Steven Winegardner

This book is dedicated to my wife and muse, Michelle Benton Cassara, who helped me recover when I was struck down with a sudden illness.

It was a close call, without her this book would not exist. Love conquers all.

"…you called me ‘Heal.’

the name’s Healy."

Ted Healy — Shemp, Moe, Larry and Curly Timeline

1909

July 4: Moe meets Ted at the beach near Coney Island; they harmonize.

1913

Octpber 21: Ted and Moe are part of a high-diving act; Gladys Kelly dies.

1923

June-August: Moe and Shemp are hired by Ted; Page, Hack and Mack comedy acrobats on the same bill for six weeks.

1924

July 9: Moe (As Harry) and Shemp are acknowledged in a paid ad in Variety for their efforts in assisting Ted & Betty Healy and their other act; Syncopated Toes.

October 14: Ted named Comedian of the Decade by New York newspaper columnist.

1925

March 15: Shemp gets married, leaves act.

June 7: Moe also gets married and leaves act.

July 6: Ted and Betty star in the Broadway Review Earl Carroll Vanities.

1927

January 11: A Night in Spain starts off at the Majestic Theatre in Brooklyn; Shemp returns to support headliner Ted Healy, Phil Baker and Aileen Stanley.

1928

March 24: Ted, Al Jolson, Shemp and the rest of the cast watch Larry’s performance at the Rainbo Club in Chicago. Ted offers Larry a job.

April 9: At Cincinnati, Ted and Shemp groom Larry to replace Shemp.

April 15: At Pittsburgh, Larry is officially a Healy Stooge.

June 14: Shemp stars in his own Vaudeville act: Shemp Howard & Co. in Hokum of 1928 at the Stroud Theatre in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

October 18: Shemp Howard rejoins A Night in Spain in Limo, Ohio.

December (Christmas season): Ted sends a chauffeur to pick up Moe, his wife Helen and baby Joan to take them to Ted and Betty’s house in Darien, Connecticut for a vacation. Ted and Moe collaborate on the future Shubert show: A Night in Venice.

1929

February 4: Ted, Moe, Shemp, and Larry share the stage for the first time for a rehearsal called Ted Healy and His Review, in Cleveland.

May 21: A Night in Venice, an elaborate Broadway show, debuts at the Shubert. Shemp, Moe, Larry and Fred Sanborn are supporting comics for headliner Ted Healy.

September 16: The show moves across town to the Majestic Theatre; it closes on October 19.

October 21: A Night in Venice takes to the road with a streamlined production.

1930

February 25: A Night in Venice wraps up the run at the Palace Theatre in New York City.

March 24: Ted Healy and His Racketeers (Shemp, Moe, and Larry) debuts at Loew’s Theatre, New York City.

May: Ted and the boys arrive in Hollywood to make the feature film: Soup to Nuts.

July 2: Ted and his Racketeers among hundreds of entertainers to perform at the Hollywood Bowl.

August 28: Shemp, Moe and Larry split from Healy. They perform at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles as Howard, Fine and Howard-Eccentric Comedians.

September 8: Healy hires a new set of comic support players under his banner of Racketeers.

1931

February 18: Healy stars in a show called, The Gang’s All Here; for the first time he uses the term Stooges to describe his comic support players. They are: Jack Wolf, Mousie Garner, Dick Hakins and Eddie Moran.

May 19: Healy stars with Fanny Brice and Phil Baker in Billy Rose’s Crazy Quilt; it has a long run on Broadway and on the road.

1932

August 7: Shemp, Moe and Larry rejoin Ted. They were still referred to as Racketeers, performing at Keith’s in Boston, Massachusetts. The boys are under contract to Healy.

August 19: Healy leaves the new Shubert review, The Passing Show, over a dispute. Shemp walks out over a pay dispute despite being under contract. Moe and Larry remain under contract.

August 28: Ted Healy and Howard, Fine & Howard perform at Cleveland’s Palace Theatre. Curly is introduced into the act.

September 17: While waiting out the Shubert dispute, Ted gains bookings at The Dell near Evanston, Illinois. It is a gambling venue.

1933

January 20: Ted Healy and his Laugh Racketeers featuring Howard, Fine & Howard do a show at the Fox Theatre in Brooklyn.

January 30: Ted launches The Daily Stooge publication.

February 24: Moe, Larry and Curly sign a one-year contract exclusively for Ted Healy.

March 7: Ted Healy, Bonnie Bonnell and Stooges perform at Los Angeles’ Club New Yorker. Louella Parsons writes: Stooges aren’t doing too badly.

March 24: Ted Healy is signed for a one-picture deal for MGM. It leads to many more.

Ted Healy with Howard, Fine and Howard appear in six comedy shorts and five features in the duration of the year contract.

1934

February 3: MGM signs Healy to their stable of stars as a contract player.

February 24: Moe, Larry and Curly’s contract with Ted expires; they are now free agents.

March 27: Production starts for Woman Haters, (Columbia) where the boys are eventually named The Three Stooges. They enjoy twenty-four years starring in their own short comedies.

June 19: Healy files a lawsuit for an injunction preventing Columbia and the Stooges from using what he claims to be his properties, gags and routines. The challenge was never acted on in court.

1937

Dec. 27: Ted Healy dies of natural causes; he was in forty commercial films in only a few years’ time.

Image76

Ted Healy and Shemp Howard (circa 1926). Courtesy of Joan Howard Mauer

Acknowledgements

My sincere gratitude goes to Drew Friedman who was inspired to write the foreword to this book. Mr. Friedman is an author in his own right producing more than a dozen books and illustrating them in his own unique style. Talk show personality Howard Stern was quoted to say, Drew Friedman is the Picasso of our time, and I agree. What most people don’t realize is that Friedman has been contributing his abilities to many other projects for years; one in particular was the back cover of my book Vernon Dent: Stooge Heavy. Friedman is steeped in knowledge about the classic comedians and often illustrates the icons of film comedy. I am most appreciative of Mr. Friedman’s new caricature drawing of Ted Healy for this project; it is an example of his enthusiasm, generosity and talent.

Very special recognition goes to Edward Watz, author of Wheeler and Woolsey and co-author of The Columbia Shorts. For this book he was a welcome person to bounce ideas off of, and provided wonderful advice and material. For his friendship I am indebted.

I was thrilled to have Michael J. Hayde as my editor. This gentleman is a distinguished researcher and author of four acclaimed books. He took a great deal of interest in this subject.

I’m thankful this project led me to meet the daughter of the great Moe Howard. Joan Howard Mauer graciously invited me into her home and shared with me items that once belonged to her dad: Ted Healy-related material and images. She generously contributed to this book in a way that no one else could. I recognized in her a trait she shared with her father; a sense of giving back to the legions of Three Stooges fans. This book hopefully provides that link for historical context.

There have been some other folks that have been with me since my first book on Edgar Kennedy, then to Vernon Dent and finally Ted Healy. They are: Bill Cappello The Finder of Lost Souls, Rich Finegan, G.D. Hamann, Cole Johnson, James L. Neibaur, Ben Ohmart, Kit Parker, Henry Sorenson Stan Taffel, and of course, Ed Watz. To each of the aforementioned gentlemen I thank you for your talents, interest and encouragement. Those mentioned are wonderful researchers and writers.

I made new friends in compiling data to put the life of Ted Healy in book form: Gary Lassin, Frank E. Reighter, Steve Cox, Aaron Neatherly and James Shemansky. All of them are experts in the history and films of the Three Stooges and were very much participants in sharing what they had accumulated about Ted’s professional life.

At the very beginning, Mr. Lassin, Mr. Reighter and I made a collaborate effort to try and find every Healy show, date and venue. While not 100 % complete, the resulting list does exemplify more than a sample amount, successfully adding to the story.

Many thanks to Brent Seguine who volunteered to put together a killer of a filmography that included production dates, technical staffing and more importantly, a synopsis of Healy’s films along with a choice scene or more. Chris Seguin notably supplied me with many films of Ted Healy, both with the Stooges and from his solo career. It aided me greatly so that I could have an informed impression.

I am really very thankful for the many generous people that offered Healy photographs from their personal collections: Brian Anthony, Bill Cappello, Steve Cox, Paul Gierucki, G.D. Hamann, Cole and Mark Johnson, Lawrence Kaufman, Joan Howard Mauer, Diablo Nabo, Dr. Karl Thiede, Derrill Pope, Diego Puglisi, Steven Winegardner, and of course Ed Watz. My only regret is that I couldn’t use all of the images.

Special thanks goes to Mark Santa Maria; a Brown Derby aficionado who contributed his prized image of the Ted Healy caricature from the Brown Derby restaurant. It is a most welcome addition.

Jean Ann Ables-Flatt helped immensely with her local history expertise of Kaufman, Texas. She dug out Ted Healy’s birth certificate from the local Diocese and also found Ted’s parent’s marriage certificate. She also is the source of information of Ghost walk tours through the City of Kaufman Cemetery.

Recognition goes to my old chums who helped me become who I am today: Lloyd Beardsley, Ted Meece and Nolan Zane. And also to my professional colleagues: Dave Allard, John Calzada, Tom Crompton, John DiCarlo, Bill Freeman, Mike Kanalakis, Mike Bainter, Mike Klein and to Sheriff Bud Cook who took an interest in me and encouraged my professional writings.

The following people aided and inspired me to do great things in this world: Dennis Cabana, Dennis Campa, Gary Cohen, Lon Davis, Eddie Deezen, Tim Dorian, Jean Dresden, Andy Edmonds, Sten Erin, Paul Etcheverry, Richard Finegan, E.J. Fleming, Rich Gallo, Sam Gill, Roger L. Gordon, David Greim, Chuck Harter, Ron Hutchinson, Gerald M. Ireland Jr., David Khein, David Lobosco, Mary Mallory, Leonard Maltin, Steve Massa, Lisa May, A.J. Marik, John McElwee (Greenbriar Picture Shows blog), Dean McKeown, Glenn Mitchell, Kit Parker, Richard M. Roberts, Sam Sabini, Bob Satterfield, Edmund and Georgia Schmidt, Randy Skretvedt, Henry Sorenson, Jason Tian, Charles Tranberg (alias Trav S.D.), Stan Taffel, John Ullah, Joseph Vance, Joe Wallison, David Wyatt and Steve Zalusky.

Libraries:

Cincinnati Public Library (David S. Norman), Margaret Herrick Library (Kristine Krueger), New York Public Library (Billy Rose Collection), San Francisco City Library (Thomas Carey)

Archdiocese of Galveston — Houston, Lisa May

Darien Historical Society

Gary Lassin — Curator of the Stoogeum

Los Angeles Police Department Museum (Glynn Martin — Executive Director)

The professional opinions of: Dr. Nolan Zane, PhD and Dr. William Lewis, M.D.

World Wide Web:

Dead Comedians Society — Paul Etcheverry

Hollywood Heritage — Mary Mallory

In the Balcony — Cliff Weimer

Laurel and Hardy Archives

Lord David Heath

Nutty Nut News Network — Irv Hyatt

Silent Comedy Mafia — Richard M. Roberts

Slapstick Comedies Page — Nelson Hughes

Find-a-Grave Website

LettersFromStan.com — archivist Bernie Hogya

Three Stooges.net

Much love goes to my two grown children: Diana and Douglas Cassara, long may they laugh.

Image2

Ted Healy, by Drew Friedman

Foreword

Once upon a time there was a fifth Beatle, Stu Sutcliff. Once upon a time there was a fourth Marx Brother, Zeppo. And, once upon a time there was also a fourth Stooge, the wise-cracking and abrasive comic actor Ted Healy. Okay, he was not technically a Stooge; he was more of the Stooges’ straight man, or their boss. The Three Stooges were merely relegated to being Ted Healy’s…Stooges. Still, Ted Healy is acknowledged as the true creator of the act called The Three Stooges. What Ted’s always-savvy boyhood friend Moe Howard knew, though, was that he could play the boss in the act, or at least assert himself as the boss, and dispense the majority of nose-bops, hair-pulls, and face-slaps among his two moronic confederates. The Three Stooges would eventually break off from the abusive Healy and sign with Columbia Pictures. As we all know, Moe’s gamble paid off and the Stooges became one of the most successful slapstick comedy teams in film history, still continuing to grow in popularity. Ted Healy’s solo film career also soared and then…it was sadly over in an instant. He’s all but forgotten today aside from loyal Three Stooges fans and the amazing Stoogeum, which has carried the Healy torch.

Now, thanks to the great film comedy historian Bill Cassara, Ted Healy finally receives his due in this magnificent biography which covers his entire, yet brief, troubled life as a Vaudeville, Broadway, and Hollywood star. All his career ups and downs are discussed and dissected, including his legendary hard drinking which would help lead to his premature death in 1937 at age 41. This is a book which Stooge fans, classic film comedy fans and followers of mysterious, unsolved Hollywood deaths will devour. Based on the record crowds who recently came out to view the newly-unearthed Ted Healy/Three Stooges color short, Hello Pop!, the time is now ripe for a Healy revival and this is the Healy biography Stooge fans have been clamoring for. Bill Cassara has a knack for uncovering the goods on the under-appreciated talents of film comedy, as his first-rate Vernon Dent and Edgar Kennedy biographies prove. His latest is the last word on Healy. All your unanswered questions about Ted Healy will finally be addressed.

I’ve noticed over the years that Stooge fans (I can’t abide anyone who is not a Stooge fan, can you?) usually either love Ted Healy or hate him, there’s rarely any in-between. Perhaps he was a bit too rough and abrasive with the boys; there seemed to be little joy when he viciously slapped them across the faces, as if he really meant it. He sometimes just came off as a mean, tall bully, which could turn Stooges fans off. But he was clearly a talented and unique comedian whose influence rubbed off on all the original Stooges, especially Shemp, who’d adapt many of Healy’s mannerisms as would, to an extent, Milton Berle and Bob Hope, among others. I love the gruff character Ted Healy created for himself and was delighted to see him popping up in mid-to-late 1930s feature films, especially as Clark Gable’s sidekick in San Francisco. In my opinion, Ted is the best thing in that particular MGM film (okay, maybe the earthquake is a close second), but sadly he’s out of place in the otherwise excellent Peter Lorre horror film Mad Love. When I saw a revival of the film in the mid-seventies, the audience actively groaned whenever his character appeared. I’ve always disliked comedy relief in horror films and Ted’s funny shtick as the wise-cracking reporter just doesn’t quite fit in amongst the dark atmosphere. But, no matter, he soon bounced back in Hollywood Hotel and then…that was it, over and out, dead.

I always enjoy speculating about what if certain comedians who died too soon might have lived on. What career the great Frank Fay might have enjoyed, or Rags Ragland? What would Lou Costello have done as a solo in the 1960s? How might Harpo Marx have been embraced by the hippies in the late sixties? Can you just imagine Shemp living on for another decade? And as for Ted Healy, what lay ahead? Perhaps he might have been signed by Columbia to star in his own series? Maybe he would have gotten his own radio show or eventually his own TV sitcom (I can even imagine him cast as a motor pool regular on Bilko; he had a perfect face for a Nat Hiken show), but, alas, we’ll never know. What I do know is that Ted Healy is finally getting the attention he so richly deserves in this extensive biography by Bill Cassara.

I’ve drawn all the Three Stooges many times, for books, magazines, prints, etc., but I’ve only drawn Ted Healy twice before: for Moe Feinberg’s book about his brother, Larry, the Stooge in the Middle. I loved creating this new portrait of Ted’s rubbery, sardonic puss for this truly wonderful and fascinating biography; a comedy history page-turner if ever there was one!

Ted Healy fans…rejoice!

Drew Friedman

Introduction

It was Christmas season in Los Angeles, December 21, 1937. The newspapers churned out details of everyday life: Crime, politics, and college football filled the pages. Glorious ads beckoned shoppers to the spirit of the holiday season. As always, any news about Hollywood and her stars were of special interest to readers.

Births were always announced in the papers, but one particular blessed moment got more ink than normal. The Los Angeles Times trumpeted: Ted Healy Becomes Father of Son. It was a human interest story to all who lived in the L.A. area.

Ted Healy, of the Three Stooges fame, last night, became a father when his wife, the former Betty Hickman, presented him with an eleven-pound, two ounce baby boy at the University Hospital, Culver City. Dr. Wyant LaMont said Mrs. Healy and the baby, John Jacob, are doing nicely.

For Ted Healy, it was certainly the most glorious day of his life. Ted was forty-one years old and famous all over America as the result of vaudeville, Broadway, movies and radio successes. He was in the business for over twenty years and enjoyed being one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s heralded contract players. For all intents and purposes, it appeared that Ted had finally settled down into a happy family life after years of a manic driven stage act and personal implosions.

Only three days later, Healy was dead. How could it be? This time his name was front and center in the L.A. newspapers. Other daily publications across the country picked it up on the wire services.

The shocking turn of events unfolded slowly. The Hollywood Citizen-News handled it simply by saying: Ted Healy, Hollywood film comedian died at his home in West Los Angeles today. The attending physician, the same doctor who’d delivered the Healy baby, was quoted to say, Death was due to heart disease. Oxygen tanks were rushed to the Healy home in a vain attempt to save the life of the comedian, who suffered the first attack at 3 a.m. Death occurred at 11:30 a.m.

As always when an unexpected death of a celebrity occurred, newspaper reporters lunged for a statement from anyone associated with the case. In this instance, no preliminary press release/press conference was forthcoming. No one knew for sure what led up to Healy’s death at this point, so the method of procedure would be to downplay the events until official word came from the authorities.

There was a problem right off the bat: the attending physician refused to sign the death certificate, and somehow the body was released to a mortuary instead of being transported to the morgue. A morbid brew was starting to bubble.

Meanwhile, Ted Healy’s ex-wife was screaming to the press. She claimed Ted was murdered at a nightclub and she had witnesses. What was originally thought to be a natural death now had the concerned interest of the Los Angeles Police Department and the District Attorney.

Did Ted Healy die of natural causes, by accident or by criminal acts? In the ensuing days, all media outlets followed the mystery. In the ensuing years, the case took on a life of its own. Despite the official investigative results identifying natural causes, some latter-day authors have claimed the true events were covered up by MGM. Circumstantial evidence has led some writers to speculate that actor Wallace Beery was directly responsible for Healy’s death.

Scandal-driven websites have fueled the imagination, some surmising the case was still unsolved. The rumors and facts intrigued me over the years. As a retired Internal Affairs Sergeant who specialized at investigating police misconduct, I wanted to find out for myself the circumstances surrounding the curious death and life of Ted Healy. There was much to learn, for until now the life story that ended in sudden death had always started in the middle, from when Healy launched the career of one of filmdom’s most famous comedy teams.

Everyone loves the Three Stooges it seems; their longevity and popularity is a true show business phenomenon. They were royal subjects in Columbia Pictures’ shorts unit right from its start in 1934 and continued there until the unit closed in 1958. Feature movies, radio, records and live appearances were a constant during and afterward.

Once the Three Stooges’ two-reelers were released to television in 1958, baby-boomers and the generations that followed couldn’t get enough of them. They still can’t. They were Movie Stars but accessible; one day Moe, Larry and Curly Joe made an appearance on live television on our local San Francisco bay independent station.

Moe, the indisputable leader, was older looking than in his films but it didn’t matter. He made the effort to communicate with the children and warned them not to attempt the things they saw in their films. He had a natural down-to-earth sincerity that compared favorably with Walt Disney.

Decades later, countless books have been written about The Three Stooges, but none about their mentor. In his time, Ted Healy was recognized as a big star on stage before and after stooges, scoring in later feature films. Healy was even recognized as Comedian of the Decade by one scribe in 1924, and it has been well documented that he was the one who hired the boys in his School of Hard Knocks. Healy was the enforcer character ten years before Moe assumed that role in their Columbia shorts.

For many years before their films, Healy exposed the Howard brothers: Moe (Moses Harry Horwitz), Shemp (Samuel Horwitz), Curly (Jerome Horwitz), and Larry Fine (Louis Feinberg) to the rigors of physical and reaction comedy on the stage, screen and in life.

Judged solely by the few MGM shorts he made with his stooges prior to the Columbia era, he has been dismissed in some circles as superfluous to Moe, Larry and Curly’s act. It’s a very odd and inaccurate take, especially since it was Healy that recognized, hired and cultivated their talents.

I always thought Ted Healy was book worthy, but after Ted Healy Jr. died such a project seemed hopeless to expect. Up until now, it has been near impossible to find reliable accounts of Healy’s ascent to fame. He left scant clues behind, and some of his stories about his family were fiction, made up on a whim (or by a press agent). For instance, Healy was always quoted as having been born in Houston, Texas and attended Holy Innocents School. There is no such learning institution in that city; never was. He was extra-secretive about his mother. She rose as an actress while married to a morphine-addicted husband, to being rich enough to live in Manhattan during Healy’s adolescence.

Born Ernest Lea Nash in Kaufman, Texas, he assumed his stage name when he became a professional entertainer. Any study of Ted Healy’s professional career starts with the stage, as a blackface comedian. Healy enjoyed being in a profession with all the benefits of a latent lifestyle from the public. Gumshoe efforts to compile Healy’s biography have been stitched together from public records and old newspaper accounts. Some of these were factual, most were a lot of hooey, and all were entertaining.

These news clippings range from mere mentions to in-depth critiques of his on stage successes and failings. Since no one is still alive to offer firsthand accounts of Healy’s career, these are the only documents to draw from. What better way to sleuth the maligned, misunderstood and mysterious Mr. Healy? It is for this reason the author chose to include sometimes entire reviews within this book. Hopefully they capture Healy’s essence on stage, his self-indulgent behavior, and his inevitable demise.

It has often been said that it is the survivors who tell the history. In this case, most of Stooge history was provided by Moe and Larry (and even Larry’s brother) who told their stories based on memory, photos and a few news clippings. It would not have been proper (or possible) for Moe or Larry to elaborate too much about the Healy years because most readers wanted to know the timeline of when the Three Stooges came into their own at Columbia.

In prior books there have always been references to Healy B.S. (Before Stooges) but no real attempt to unfold his life. One person who has made it a point of educating stooge fans as to The Three Stooges’ genesis is Gary Lassin. As head of the Stooges’ official fan club, he has often featured Ted Healy photos and references in his Three Stooges Journal over the years.

Lassin is also the curator of the Stoogeum (stooge-museum) in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania where Healy is prominently represented. To prepare for this study, I met him at his headquarters in April of 2012. The man not only had every piece of Three Stooges memorabilia on display, he had an extensive library of stills. Lassin had the foresight of also collecting Healy-related artifacts and photos.

On my visit, Lassin gave me a special guided tour. I was pleased Healy was so well integrated as part of the layout. He told me, Many people come through here that know every line from the Stooges’ Columbia pictures, but when they see images of Healy they say, ‘Who’s Ted?’ 

It is hoped that this book answers that question.

Bill Cassara

San Jose, California

Prologue: Crossroads

The year was 1930 when the film Soup to Nuts was released. Incredibly, Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Shemp Howard had split from their mentor, Ted Healy, before the movie was even in the theaters.

Healy went back on the stage to do mostly musical comedy, while Howard, Fine and Howard went on the road during the last gasps of vaudeville. Ted Healy had always been the star and the boys were his dedicated employees, but over the years money became an issue: the amount, the payment consistency and Ted’s gambling recklessness. Moe described Healy as the essence of refinement, [1] however while under the influence, he became a foul-mouthed vicious character. [2] Alcohol intake may have chemically fueled his personality disorder; it became an addiction. According to Moe:

Liquor had killed his father and uncle and had destroyed his sister’s life. When Ted was young, I remember that he made a pledge never to touch liquor, after having seen the consequences of its effects on his family. The strain of his life in show business got him started, and once he started drinking he was never able to stop. [3]

Healy was a wonderful showman and generous to his friends, but sometimes acted on impulses. His lifestyle was in sharp contrast to the family men that were Moe, Larry and Shemp.

When the Howards and Fine previously left the act, Healy used a new gaggle of stooges, interspersed in his musical shows. Truth be told, Healy used many stooges through the years, maybe up to twenty different individuals. Some of them came and went with the wind, but Healy knew they were less talented than Shemp, Moe, Larry and Curly. And it prompted Healy to get the team back together to put their best foot forward.

Healy allegedly vowed not to allow liquor to interfere with his work believing they were on the cusp of fame if it all worked out. Everything started to come together by early 1933. Curly had successfully replaced Shemp and Healy was enjoying a new wave of popularity with his supporting cast of stooges. It was considered a garden-fresh act of knockabout comedy as physically low as it could go. Healy had already proclaimed himself King of Stooges, a distinction that Healy holds to this day.

Healy offered to put Moe, Larry and Curly in a personal contract with a guaranteed fifty-two weeks of pay. The legal agreement was drawn up to take effect on February 24, 1933 expiring exactly one year later. After that all parties were at liberty to go in any direction they chose.

There was one important clause to consider; Healy contractually maintained that he was the owner of any antics that were created while the boys were in his employment.

There wasn’t much leverage at this point; if Moe, Larry and Curly didn’t agree to the terms, Healy could hire other support stooges.

The boys eagerly signed the contract; this was everyone’s big chance. It served as the crossroads of the act, and their respective professional lives as well. Hollywood would soon call.

1 Howard, Moe. Moe Howard & the 3 Stooges Citadel Press Secaucus, New Jersey