Larry
FineLarry
Fine
The team's middleman, Larry Fine, was born Louis Feinberg
on October 5, 1902, in the south side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
His father, Joseph Feinberg, and mother, Fanny Lieberman, owned
a watch repair and jewelry shop.
Larry was the first of four children; he had two brothers,
Morris and a younger brother, Philip, who died prematurely, and
a sister, Lyla, who became a school teacher. He wasn't even a
year old when his parents and friends started treating him like
a celebrity. He stole the show as an entertainer while still in
diapers. One time, at just two years of age, his father propped
him up on top of a jewelry showcase to show relatives how well
he could dance. Larry managed to do a few dance steps before losing
his balance and falling backward through the glass top of the
display case. Luckily, he emerged unharmed.
Morris Feinberg recalls that Larry had another close call
in his youth. "Larry wasn't so fortunate the next time he
got into trouble. It happened when Dad was testing metals to see
which were gold. He used a powerful acid that when applied to
base metals would turn them green or burn a hole in them. Gold,
however was not affected by the acid. One day Dad had removed
the stopper from the acid bottle, leaving it uncovered. A thirsty
Larry stood unnoticed at his side. As he reached for the bottle
of acid to raise it to his mouth and drink, Dad saw him out of
the corner of his eye and smacked the bottle from his hand, splashing
acid on his left arm and burning it badly."
Larry required immediate medical attention and a skin graft
was done on his arm. After the surgery, doctors recommended that
he be given violin lessons as a form of therapy. It was believed
that the action of drawing the bow over the strings would strengthen
his damaged arm muscles. Little did Larry realize that the violin
would become an important tool in his career.
In his teens, Larry had aspirations of becoming a comedian
- even a star. He enjoyed putting on shows for anyone who would
watch him. As a result, he gained valuable experience. Larry's
skill as a violinist became so impressive that he was asked to
play professionally. At age ten, as a student at Southwalk Grammar
School, he soloed at a children's concert at the Roseland Dance
Hall in Philadelphia. Backed by Howard Lanin's orchestra, he played
"Humoresque" on his violin.
Morris remembers that Larry eventually became a versatile
musician. "He was a natural - born performer and could play
any instrument he got his hands on - piano, clarinet, saxophone
and brass. He even constructed a violin out of a cigar box and
a broom handle. He played its single string like a cello, holding
it between his knees."
Music now in his blood, Larry played on the bill of local
theater amateur nights, taking top prizes in most of these contests.
Which didn't surprise his peers, since he was certainly good at
his craft. During this period he interspersed his musical talents
with pugilistic skills, earning money as a lightweight boxer,
fighting over 40 bouts. By age fifteen, he started singing along
with movie slides at Philadelphia theaters - the Keystone, Alhambra,
Broadway, Nixon's Grand and the Allegheny - where he received
two dollars for each performance. All of this was accomplished
while he was still a student at Central High School. In later
years, he would go on to develop an act in which he would do a
Russian dance while playing the violin.
In 1921, Larry landed a job in Gus Edwards' Newsboy Sextette,
playing the violin, dancing and telling jokes in a Jewish dialect.
On the bill with him was Mabel Haney, who would later become his
wife. Mabel, with her sister, Loretta, joined Larry in an act
called 'The Haney Sisters and Fine.' The trio worked together
in vaudeville until 1925, playing the RKO, Orpheum, Keith-Orpheum
and Delmar Circuits and the Paramount Theatre in Canada.
It was during a playdate in Chicago, in 1925, at a night
club called the Rainbow Gardens, that Larry was first asked to
become a stooge. Ted Healy, Moe and Shemp Howard took in Larry's
performance one evening, at which time Shemp informed Healy that
he planned to leave the act. Moe suggested that perhaps Larry
could replace Shemp. Healy liked the idea and at the conclusion
of the show the trio went backstage to meet with Fine. Ted made
him an offer: $90 a week to become a stooge and an extra $10 a
week if he'd throw away his fiddle. The next day, Larry accepted
the offer and this was the beginning of what would eventually
be "The Three Stooges." Shemp would return later as
his stint away from Healy did not pan out.
The trio, Moe, Larry and Shemp, first opened on Broadway
in A Night in Venice and later appeared in 20th Century-Fox's
comedy Soup to Nuts (1930). The rest of Larry's career would parallel
Moe's. When the team left MGM in 1934, the Stooges were comprised
of Moe, Larry and Curly. They went on to star in two-reel comedies
for Columbia Pictures, where the team remained for 24 years.
Offstage, Larry was a social butterfly. He liked a good
time and surrounded himself with friends. Larry and his wife,
Mabel, loved having parties and every Christmas threw lavish midnight
suppers. Larry was what some friends have called a "yes man,"
since he was always so agreeable, no matter what the circumstances.
As film director Charles Lamont recalled after directing Fine
in two Stooges comedies, "Larry was a nut. He was the kind
of guy who always said anything. He was a yapper."
Larry's devil-may-care personality carried over to the world
of finance. He was a terrible businessman and spent his money
as soon as he earned it. He would either gamble it away at the
track or at high-stakes gin rummy games. In an interview, Fine
even admitted that he often gave money to actors and friends who
needed help and never asked to be reimbursed. Joe Besser and director
Edward Bernds remember that because of his free spending, Larry
was almost forced into bankruptcy when Columbia terminated the
Three Stooges comedies in 1958.
Norman Maurer recalls that Larry was surrounded by friends,
some of whom were ready and waiting to take his money. "Larry
would wait around at the end of a booking during personal appearance
tours. Then, the minute Moe would go to the theater manager to
get their money, Larry would take his cut and ten minutes later
it was gone. It would be spent on life's luxuries: diamond rings,
fur coats and on the horses. Or if one of his friends would say,
'Larry, I've got a deal - this non-sinkable bathing suit... all
we need is $l5,000'-- Larry was had!"
On another occasion, Larry convinced Moe to finance a fast-food
restaurant in Glendale called Mi Patio. Larry's two friends, who
conceived the idea, planned to sell Stoogeburgers, which would
be served in little plastic baskets with the Stooges' faces printed
on the sides. After several months of so-so business the partners
skipped town with everything they could get their hands on, including
the burgers. As a result, Moe and Larry were left holding the
bag.
Because of his prodigal ways and his wife's dislike for
housekeeping, Larry and his family lived in hotels - first in
the President Hotel in Atlantic City, where his daughter Phyllis
was raised, then the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. Not until
the late forties did Larry buy a home - a splendid, old Mediterranean
structure in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.
Larry's screen personality was as laid back as his real
life one, and thus his character was never forced. Prior to the
filming of a scene he'd come up with a gag idea that he'd toss
at the director; he would always shrug it off when his ideas were
ignored. He was said to be a bit of a whiner, sometimes complaining
about the smallest things. If he stubbed his toe on a chair during
a scene, he'd carry on until the propman cushioned the chair leg
with a sponge pad to protect him from injuring the toe again.
In the early days, Larry would put on an act in public, trying
to appear aloof, to make people believe he was a serious intellectual
- a complete opposite of his screen persona. But this false front
disappeared as he matured.
Fine was also known for his tardiness. He rarely got to
the set on time, or to any other engagement. Several times during
his career, Moe had to cover for him until he showed up. Tardiness
was definitely one of his foibles, which even the cast's call-sheets
bear out. In fact, one time while performing in Atlantic City,
a newspaper photographer had arranged a photo session with the
Stooges in advance of their engagement. When Larry forgot the
appointment, Moe had to ask the theater manager to take his place.
Ed Bernds, who directed Larry in numerous Stooges films, recalls
that he wasn't as dedicated to his career as the other Stooges.
"He tended to be a bit of a goof-off" Bernds said. "But
not a real goldbricker; he just wasn't as dedicated as Moe was."
But Norman Maurer believes that Larry's talent as an actor
and comedian were commonly overlooked in Stooges comedies. As
he put it: "I think Larry was the best actor of the three.
I used to argue with Moe about giving him more lines because Larry
was good, but Moe was against it."
Larry had two children, a son, Johnny, who died in a tragic
automobile accident on November 17, 1961, at age 24, and a daughter,
Phyllis. His wife Mabel died on May 30, 1967, during the Memorial
Day weekend while the Stooges were on tour. Larry left the show
when he learned of his wife's death and, in true show business
tradition, Moe and Curly-Joe carried out the team's three-day
engagement.
Fine's favorite hobbies included teaching serious music,
preferably jazz, the kind Andre Previn, Percy Faith, Morton Gould
and Andre Kostelanetz popularized. His favorite Stooge: Curly.
As he once commented, "Personally, I thought Curly was the
greatest because he was a natural comedian who had no formal training.
Whatever he did he made up on the spur of the moment." Larry's
favorite sport was baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers his favorite
team. He also enjoyed going to the boxing matches.
Larry's favorite actors were Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable
and Peter Falk, while Milton Berle, Jack Benny and Redd Foxx were
his choice for comedians. His favorite Stooges films were Scrambled
Brains (1951) and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962). Runner-up
favorites included You Nazty Spy (1940) and I'll Never Heil Again
(1941).
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