He wasn't just the guy with the hair. You know the hair—that wild, frizzy, "porcupine" nest that looked like he’d just stuck his finger in a light socket. For decades, Larry Fine was the human glue holding the most chaotic comedy team in history together. While Moe Howard was the terrifying bowl-cutted leader and Curly or Shemp provided the high-octane lunacy, Larry was... well, he was Larry.
Honestly, he’s often the most underrated member of the group. People see him as a punching bag. A reactive bystander. But if you really watch those old Columbia shorts, you'll see a man who was arguably the most versatile performer on that set.
The Acid Accident That Created a Virtuoso
Larry Fine wasn't born with the stage name. He was Louis Feinberg, born in Philadelphia back in 1902. His father, Joseph, ran a jewelry shop, and that’s where things almost ended before they began.
When Larry was just a small kid, he saw a beaker of what he thought was cool, refreshing water on his dad's workbench. It wasn't water. It was strong acid used to test the gold content of jewelry. He tipped it over. The acid ate into his left forearm, causing horrific damage to the muscle tissue.
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In a weird twist of fate, doctors suggested he take up the violin as physical therapy. The repetitive motion of fingering the strings and moving the bow was supposed to rebuild his strength.
It worked. Too well, maybe. By his teens, Larry was a legitimate musical prodigy. He was playing professionally in vaudeville while most kids his age were still figuring out how to tie their shoes. He was even a professional boxer for a minute—fighting under the name "Kid Roth"—just to keep that arm strong. He actually won his first pro bout, but his dad put the kibosh on the boxing career pretty quickly. He didn't want Larry’s "violin hands" getting smashed.
How Larry Fine Joined the Three Stooges
The origin story of the trio is a bit of a mess, mostly because they spent years in the orbit of a guy named Ted Healy. In 1928, Larry was doing a solo act at the Rainbo Gardens in Chicago. He was doing this "Russian" dance while playing the fiddle—total chaos, basically.
Moe Howard and Ted Healy saw him and knew they needed him.
The story goes that Larry was actually in the middle of washing his hair when he first met Healy. He hadn't dried it yet, so it was sticking out in every direction. Healy allegedly told him, "Keep the hair, and you're hired."
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He joined the act for $90 a week, plus an extra $10 if he promised to stop playing the violin so much. Larry reportedly said, "For $100, I'll forget everything."
The Numb Face and the Art of the Slap
If you’ve ever wondered how Larry took those hits from Moe for forty years, the answer is kind of grim. He was actually callused.
One side of Larry’s face—the left side, usually—was reportedly thicker and less sensitive than the right. Decades of "stage" slaps that weren't always fake took their toll. Moe was a perfectionist. If the slap didn't sound right, they did it again. Larry just took it.
He was the "middle" Stooge in more than just name.
Moe was the aggression ($A$). Curly was the chaos ($C$). Larry was the balance ($B$). Without Larry’s reactions, the comedy doesn't breathe. He was the surrealist. He’d occasionally drop a line that made absolutely no sense, like suggesting they hide from a ghost by "jumping into a bathtub because it isn't spring yet."
A Life of Chaos Off-Screen
Off-camera, Larry was nothing like the characters he played. Well, except for the money part.
He was notoriously terrible with finances. Larry and his wife, Mabel Haney, lived in hotels (like the Knickerbocker in Hollywood) for most of their lives because Larry couldn't be bothered with the "business" of owning a home. He was a chronic gambler. Horse races, card games—if there was a bet, Larry was in.
He also had a heart that was way too big for his bank account. If an old vaudeville friend came to him asking for $500, Larry would give it to him, knowing he’d never see a dime of it back. He didn't care. To Larry, money was just paper that you spent until it was gone.
The tragedy in his life was real, too. He lost his son, Johnny, in a car accident in 1961. His wife Mabel died while the Stooges were on tour in 1967. Most people would have folded. Larry kept going because, for him, the act was life.
The Final Curtain and the Stroke of Luck
By the late 60s, the Stooges were trying to make a comeback with a travelogue series called Kook's Tour. During filming in 1970, Larry suffered a massive stroke. It paralyzed the left side of his body.
He moved into the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital. But even then, he didn't stop. He’d sit in his wheelchair and entertain the other residents. He’d sign autographs for hours. He even wrote an autobiography, which he titled Stroke of Luck—a testament to his weird, dark sense of humor.
Larry passed away in January 1975, just months before Moe.
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What You Can Learn from Larry
If you want to appreciate Larry Fine, stop looking at the person being hit. Look at the person reacting.
- Focus on the "Middle": In any team, the loudest person and the funniest person get the glory. The person who balances them is the one who makes the team last 40 years.
- Master the Reaction: Comedy isn't just the joke; it's the silence after the joke. Larry was the master of the "double take."
- Resilience is Key: From an acid burn at age four to a paralyzing stroke at 67, the man never stopped trying to make people laugh.
Next time you're watching a Three Stooges short, ignore Curly for a second. Watch Larry in the background. He’s usually doing something bizarre—straightening a rug while the house is burning down or petting a dog while Moe is screaming. That was the genius of Larry Fine. He lived in his own world, and we were just lucky enough to get a glimpse of it.
If you’re looking to dig deeper into the actual craft of his comedy, go back and watch the 1952 short He Cooked His Goose. It’s one of the few times Larry is the lead, playing a "lady's man" villain. It’s weird, it’s uncomfortable, and it proves he had way more range than he ever got credit for.
Go watch that episode tonight. Pay attention to his timing. You'll never see the "Middle Stooge" the same way again.