KING OF LOW COMEDY,
JEROME HOROWITZ.
1905-1952
I am going partially by memory with this post. Therefore, a few details may be a bit off.

Jerome Horowitz was the youngest of a Brooklyn theatical family. An older brother, Morris, teamed with childhood friend, Ted Healey, and began performing in a Vaudville act, which evolved into "The Three Stooges." Brother Sam came aboard, as did a violin-playing comic, Larry Fineman, who hailed from Philadelphia.

When Sam left The Three Stooges, Jerome was bought in. The year was 1933. The trio's first two-reeler (movie short) was the dialog-sung "Woman'Hater's Club" which has not aged well. The Shorts Department of Columbia Pictures picked up the trio and matched them with various directors with varying results. Nonetheless, the trio caught on. The Three Stooges remain a noteworthy entry in American film heritage. The improvisations of Jerome (i.e., Curly) filled running time when the script writers had come up empty. His facial expressions and unique vocal sounds thrilled audiences.

Off camera, Jerome was shy. His shaved head, which was mandated by the producers, made him feel less attractive than he was with a full head of year. (Photos of Jerome with his hair grown out show him to be indeed a handsome man.) Off camera, Jerome was shy. His shaved head, which was mandated by the producers, made him feel less attractive than the actually-handsome-man he was with a full head of hair. He carried a muscular build. His brother Morris (Moe) commented on Jerome's his impressive physical strength.

When filming was on hiatus, Jerome liked taking to the night clubs where he imbibed, but it is not clear what his favorite beverage was. He was known to dance with vigor to every selection which the band would play. His indulging such excesses was to compensate for the insecurity he felt because of his shaved head and buffoonish on-camera persona. Those excesses, and probably some underlying medical conditions, caused him to suffer strokes in the mid-1940s.

The final short in which Jerome played a part (not just a cameo as in the one years later about a lion loose aboard a train) was "Microphonies" with the talented actress-singer Christine McIntyre.

Jerome's health continued to decline until his death in January 1952 when he was in his late forties. His grave is in the Jewish cemetery adjacent to what is now known as Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Jerome and his wife had one daughter, who had a family of her own. He has present-day descendants.

John Fray, May 20