Moses Harry Horwitz
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Moe Howard, the Boss Stooge of The Three Stooges, began his acting career in 1909 at Vitagraph Studios. He joined Ted Healy in 1922 with brother Shemp and Larry Fine, forming the act that became The Three Stooges. Moe appeared in over 250 films, including 190 Three Stooges shorts, and managed the group’s finances. He died of lung cancer in 1975 at age 77.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Moe Howard — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Moe Howard by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Moe Howard — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
His mother dressed him in curls, prompting Moe to chop his hair off using a bowl as a guide — creating his trademark soup-bowl haircut. The son of Solomon and Jennie Horwitz, he was born Moses Harry Horwitz on June 19, 1897, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He sold frogs in saloons to pay for theater tickets and attended Erasmus Hall High School, later a trade school to become an electrician.
At age 12 in 1909, Moe Howard volunteered at Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, running errands and soon appearing in silent shorts with John Bunny and Flora Finch. A studio film library fire in 1910 ended those early works. In 1922, he, brother Shemp, and Larry Fine joined vaudeville comic Ted Healy, forming the act that became The Three Stooges. They left Healy in 1934 and signed with Columbia Pictures, where they made 190 comedy shorts over 23 years. Moe also voiced characters in the animated series The New 3 Stooges 1965 and appeared in films like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 1963.
Moe married Helen Schonberger, a cousin of Harry Houdini, in 1925. The couple had two children: Joan and Paul. Offstage, Moe enjoyed reading, playing bridge, and making hooked rugs. He invested wisely, making sure his fellow Stooges didn’t go broke. He was protective of his younger brother Curly, teaching him ukulele and signing letters Your loving brother Moe.
The Three Stooges’ 190 shorts still find new audiences. In 1983, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His autobiography, Moe Howard and the Three Stooges, came out after his death. Moe remains the stoic, eye-poking leader whose comedy influenced generations of slapstick performers.
Little-known facts about Moe Howard — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Moe was the business-minded Stooge. He knew Curly liked to party and Larry liked the racetrack, so he drew up an agreement where they gave him a percentage of their salaries. He invested it, ensuring they weren’t broke when their careers ended.
When Three Stooges shorts sparked eye-poking among kids in the late 1950s, Moe went on TV to show how the gags were done safely, turning it into a magic trick for young viewers.
At mother Jennie’s death in 1936, Moe and Shemp had hidden from her that her favorite son Irving had died three weeks earlier.
His wife Helen Schonberger was a cousin of magician Harry Houdini.
The eye-gouge gag came from a bridge game: Shemp poked Larry in the eyes, Larry cried, and Moe laughed so hard he fell through a glass door. He thought it was the funniest thing ever.
In private, Moe was a quiet family man who read, played bridge, and made hooked rugs. He understood money and investments left him wealthy.
For 23 years at Columbia, the Stooges never knew their true popularity or financial success until after they stopped making shorts.
His great-granddaughter Caroline had a small role in the 2012 film The Three Stooges.
Moe was very protective of his shy younger brother Curly Howard, who rarely stood up for himself.
His bowl haircut was accidental: as a child, his mother put him in dresses with curled hair. He chopped it off using a bowl as a guide, and his mother was happy he did. He kept the style all his life.
During filming of Pardon My Scotch 1935, a rigged table split incorrectly, breaking three of Moe’s ribs. The take was used in the final film and later reused in Dizzy Detectives 1943.
Moe had a legal agreement reserving the right to choose Stooge replacements: Curly replaced by Shemp, Shemp by Joe Besser, Joe by Joe DeRita.
Despite his rough on-screen persona, in real life he was protective of Curly, taught him ukulele, and signed letters Your loving brother Moe.
At 5’3.5, Moe was the shortest of the six men who became Stooges. Larry, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRita were 5’4; Curly was 5’5; Shemp was 5’7.
After leaving Ted Healy, Moe signed with Columbia. Larry had signed with Universal, but Columbia boss Harry Cohn called Universal’s legal department and claimed the Stooges for Columbia.
Moe died in May 1975; Larry Fine died only four months later in the same year.
He quit vaudeville after marrying and joined his mother’s real estate business. He hired friends as subcontractors but built houses too expensive for the neighborhood, went broke, and later convinced his mother to move from New York to California.
Moe, Emil Sitka, and Joe DeRita were slated for the film The Jet Set retitled Blazing Stewardesses 1975, but Moe dropped out due to lung cancer. The Ritz Brothers replaced them.
In sixty years, Moe never missed a performance.
At his death, he and Helen were just over a month from their 50th wedding anniversary.
Moe never wore a wig. On a 1973 Mike Douglas Show appearance, he said the same barber on Vine Street had styled his bowl cut for almost 40 years, and he combed it back when not working.
As a teenager, he attended trade school for electrician training; brother Shemp also went for plumbing.
Moe, Larry, and Curly received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
He skinned his nose falling down stairs as a child. A phony doctor rebuilt it, so his mother paid another doctor with her old copper pots to fix it again.
Father of Joan Howard and Paul Howard.
The Three Stooges’ Hollywood Walk of Fame star was unveiled on August 30, 1983, with 2,000 people attending.
Moe was working on his autobiography I Stooge to Conquer when he died; it was published posthumously as Moe Howard and the Three Stooges.
As a child, he sold frogs in saloons to pay for theater tickets when skipping school.
The Stooges’ Columbia contract gave the studio perpetual rights to their likenesses, so no one else can legally use them without permission.
He was entombed at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California, in the Garden of Memories, Alcove of Love Mausoleum. Groman Eden Mortuary supplied the casket.
Their final film Kooks Tour, conceived in 1970 as travelogue comedies, was halted by Larry’s stroke. The unfinished pilot was padded with Yellowstone footage and released on Super 8 years later at $200.
Determined to get into movies, Moe then going by Harry went to Vitagraph studios in May 1909, volunteered to run errands, and impressed Maurice Costello. Soon he appeared in dramas and comedies. He hid his movie work from family until they noticed his acting at home.
As children, Moe and Shemp used younger brother Curly in female roles for family shows. Curly had trouble remembering lines, so Moe made cue cards on adhesive tape stuck to his forehead.
Most of Moe’s investments were in real estate.
After Columbia cancelled their contract, they replaced Joe Besser with Joe DeRita and filmed The Three Stooges Scrapbook, a live-action/animation featurette in color. Pieces were used in The Three Stooges in Orbit.
Moe also voiced other characters on The New 3 Stooges 1965, such as Orville Wright in A Flycycle Built for Two.
Brother of actors Curly Howard and Shemp Howard.
Off camera, Moe combed his hair back like a normal gentleman, unlike his character’s soup-bowl style.
Father-in-law of Norman Maurer, with whom he partnered in Normandie Productions.
On June 26, 1945, Moe legally changed his surname from Horwitz to Howard, along with his wife Helen and children Joan and Paul.
Son of Sol Horwitz.
Though known for playing mean on screen, in real life he was nice to coworkers, family, and fans.
Grandfather of Jeffrey Scott and Michael Maurer.
Had two older brothers: Jack Horwitz and Irving Horwitz.
He died five days before Chris Diamantopoulos who played Moe in the 2012 film was born.
Original member of The Three Stooges.
In the early 1950s, Larry, Moe, and Shemp made a pilot cobbled from old routines, but sponsors passed, criticizing its direction and camera work.
He died at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital from lung cancer.
He passed away on May 4th, which later became known as Star Wars Day May the Fourth be with you.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Moe Howard.
Celebrities similar to Moe Howard — same craft, ranked by reach.
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