Comedian Louis Feinberg, better known by his stage name Larry Fine, lived an active and eventful life. He was also a talented violinist. He achieved his greatest success as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges, where Larry was known as the “middle stooge.” The trio starred in short and full-length films and were a true sensation in the 1950s. Learn more about the life, acting career, and personal story of this famous comedian, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, on philadelphiaski.
Early Life
Louis Feinberg was born in Philadelphia on October 4, 1902. In a Jewish family that had emigrated to the U.S. from the Russian Empire, he was the eldest of four children. His parents opened a watch repair and jewelry shop in Philadelphia.
To test the gold content in jewelry, Louis’s father used acid. One day, the young boy picked up a bottle, thinking it contained water. His father managed to knock it from the boy’s hand, but the concentrated acid spilled onto Louis’s forearm, causing significant damage.
To strengthen and rehabilitate the muscles, his parents had him take up the violin. He proved to be a skilled and talented student. Later, Louis would use this ability in his acting career. At the time, his parents thought he would become a musician, but these plans were not meant to be due to the outbreak of World War I.
Additionally, to strengthen his arm, Louis took up boxing as a teenager. He even won one professional fight. However, his father forbade him from fighting publicly. And so, life led the young man down the path that would make him famous.
Acting Career
Young Louis’s first job was, in fact, musical—he performed as a violinist in vaudeville. In the 1920s, he worked as a master of ceremonies in Chicago, where he met actors Shemp Howard and Ted Healy. At the time, they were working for the Shubert brothers in a show called “A Night in Spain.” Louis was invited to join the project for a short time to replace Howard.
In 1929, Ted Healy proposed that Louis, Shemp Howard, and Moe Howard form a trio. They agreed and went on tour to Venice, and in 1930, they came to Hollywood to shoot the film Soup to Nuts. It was during this time that Louis chose his stage name, Larry Fine. He was easily recognizable by his distinctive hairstyle: a bald patch on top with thick, curly hair on the sides and back. According to legend, his colleagues saw him with freshly washed hair and recommended he keep the style.
After their work in Hollywood, the trio stopped collaborating with Healy. They went on their own tour under the name “Howard, Fine, and Howard: Three Lost Soles” and worked together until the summer of 1932. Then, Larry and Moe Howard reunited with Healy and Curly Howard. Shemp decided to pursue a solo career.
Over the next two years, “The Three Stooges” starred in several comedy short and feature films. However, their collaboration with Ted Healy was fraught with constant disputes over fees and contracts, as well as his alcohol abuse and verbal insults. Eventually, the Howard brothers and Fine severed ties with him.
Subsequently, the trio worked independently. During this period, actor Larry Fine often took a backseat, serving as a kind of “voice of reason” amidst the antics of Moe and Curly. Moe played a gruff and bossy character, while Curly’s role was somewhat childlike. Larry often became the target of Moe’s abuse. He mostly projected sensibility, but could sometimes become illogical and unpredictable.
In 1946, Curly suffered a stroke. Shemp returned to the trio to replace him. Afterward, Larry’s on-screen presence in the trio’s work increased. He now had equal screen time and even took center stage in several films, such as “Fuelin’ Around” (1949) and “He Cooked His Goose” (1952).
In the fall of 1955, Shemp passed away. “The Three Stooges” continued their act with various other actors. The directors who worked with them gave Larry the freedom to act almost crazily on camera. Some said that he wasn’t so much acting as simply being himself. In any case, “The Three Stooges” were a true television hit in 1959 when Columbia Pictures released a series of their films.
The Famous Comedian’s Personal Life
In 1922, Larry Fine met Mabel Haney, his future wife. They worked together in vaudeville and married four years later. They had a very active social life and were a happy couple, despite a somewhat unconventional marital relationship.
Larry, for instance, was famously poor at managing his finances. He disliked and was unable to count money or plan expenses. Furthermore, he had a gambling addiction and would sometimes gamble away everything he earned. He also generously lent money to fellow actors in need but never asked for it back. Due to his gambling and spendthrift habits, Fine nearly went bankrupt after “The Three Stooges” stopped filming shorts in 1957.
As for Mabel, she disliked housekeeping. As a result, the family lived mostly in hotels. They first settled at the President Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where their daughter Phyllis grew up. Later, they lived at the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel. Larry and Mabel only purchased their own home in the late 1940s in Los Angeles.
In 1967, Mabel died unexpectedly of a heart attack. She was 63 years old. Larry was on tour at the time. He immediately headed home upon receiving the news but didn’t make it in time to say goodbye.
Five years earlier, their son John, who was 24, died in a car crash. As for Phyllis, she passed away from cancer at the age of 60. She was married to Don Lamond, a well-known television host, and also worked in television herself. Their son, Eric Lamond, was a businessman who passed away in 2021.
Final Years and Death
Larry Fine outlived his wife by eight years. He continued working until 1970. Back in 1965, along with Moe Howard and Joe DeRita, he co-founded the comedy television show “The New Three Stooges,” which featured live and animated segments. The show was warmly received by audiences, but the actors’ advanced age was taking its toll. For instance, Fine began to have trouble delivering his lines.
Subsequently, the actors began working on a television series called “Kook’s Tour,” but in January 1970, Fine suffered a severe stroke. The left side of his body was completely paralyzed, which marked the end of his acting career. Producer Norman Maurer later edited the footage the comedians had managed to film into a feature-length movie.
As for Fine, he moved into the Motion Picture Country House, a retirement home in Woodland Hills. For the last five years of his life, he was confined to a wheelchair. Despite his difficult physical condition, he always tried to entertain other patients and even finished his autobiography, aptly titled Stroke of Luck. His old friend Moe Howard visited him often. Fans of his talent also came to see him, and he welcomed them gladly.
Later, Larry Fine suffered several more strokes. He passed away on January 24, 1975, at the age of 72. The famous comedian was buried with his wife and son in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. His colleague and friend, Moe Howard, died three months later.