It is a grainy, somewhat haunting image. You’ve probably seen it floating around those "old Hollywood" forums or tucked away in a Reddit thread about the tragic ends of famous comedians. In it, the man who defined slapstick for a generation—Jerome "Curly" Howard—looks nothing like the vibrant, high-pitched ball of energy we saw in A Plumbing We Will Go.
Instead, we see a man with a full head of chestnut hair, a far cry from the iconic chrome dome. He looks tired. Older than his 40-some-odd years. Honestly, it’s a bit of a gut punch for anyone who grew up laughing at his "nyuk-nyuks" and floor-spinning antics. This isn't just about a picture, though. The story behind the last photo of Curly Howard is actually a roadmap of one of the most heartbreaking declines in show business history.
The Day the Laughter Stopped
Most fans point to a specific moment as the beginning of the end. It was May 6, 1946. The Stooges were on the set of Half-Wits Holiday. If you watch that short today, you can actually see the exact point where Curly vanishes. He was supposed to be part of the massive, climactic pie fight at the end of the film.
He never made it.
Moe Howard, Curly’s older brother and the de facto leader of the group, found him slumped in a director’s chair. Curly had suffered a massive stroke. He was only 42. He couldn't speak. He could only cry. Moe, ever the professional but surely dying inside, had to go back and finish the scene with Larry Fine while his brother was rushed to the hospital.
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That Famous Cameo: A Final Glimpse
After that stroke, Curly was officially retired. His brother Shemp stepped back in to fill the void, but everyone—especially Moe—hoped it was temporary.
In 1947, a partially recovered Curly visited the set of Hold That Lion!. This is where things get interesting for historians. Director Jules White decided on a whim to put Curly in a scene. It’s the only time you’ll ever see Moe, Larry, Shemp, and Curly all on screen at once.
Curly plays a passenger sleeping on a train with a clothespin on his nose. He has hair. He looks... okay. But he’s not "Curly." He’s Jerome. This film clip often provides the frames for what people call the last photo of Curly Howard in a professional capacity.
The Quiet Years and the Final Images
Contrary to some of the darker rumors, Curly’s final years weren't entirely miserable. He actually found a bit of peace. He married his fourth wife, Valerie Newman, in 1947. By all accounts, she was his rock. They had a daughter, Janie, in 1948.
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There are personal family photos from this era—the late 1940s—that show a very different man. In these snapshots, Curly is often seen holding his baby daughter or sitting in his backyard.
- He had a thick head of hair.
- He wore a mustache at various points.
- He had lost significant weight, then gained it back in an unhealthy way due to lack of mobility.
- His eyes, once full of mischief, looked heavy.
The last photo of Curly Howard isn't a single definitive image like a paparazzi shot, but rather a collection of these private moments. The most common "last" image cited by fans is a candid shot of him sitting in a wheelchair toward the very end, or perhaps the still from his 1947 cameo.
Why the Decline Was So Sharp
People ask: "How did a 48-year-old man just fall apart?"
It wasn't just the strokes. It was a lifestyle that finally caught up. Curly was an introvert who used alcohol to cope with the pressure of being the world's funniest man. He felt "ugly" without his hair. He ate too much. He had severe hypertension that went untreated for years.
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Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Pictures, didn't help. He refused to give the Stooges time off, forcing a sick Curly to keep performing until his brain literally couldn't take it anymore.
The Final Curtain
By 1950, Curly was using a wheelchair. By 1951, he was in and out of sanitariums. Moe, who was incredibly protective, refused to put him in a state mental hospital when the private clinics said they could no longer handle his care. He moved Curly to the Baldy View Sanitarium in San Gabriel, California.
On January 18, 1952, the "Babe" passed away.
The legacy of the last photo of Curly Howard serves as a reminder. It reminds us that behind the eye-pokes and the "woob-woob-woobs" was a sensitive, fragile human being. He gave everything to his audience, literally working until he collapsed.
If you want to honor the man, don't just hunt for the sad photos of his decline. Go back and watch A Plumbing We Will Go or An Ache in Every Stake. Watch him when he was the master of his craft.
Next Steps for Stooge Fans:
- Check out the Three Stooges Museum (The Stoogeum) in Ambler, Pennsylvania, for a look at actual personal artifacts from the Howard family.
- Read Moe Howard's autobiography, Moe Howard and the Three Stooges, for a firsthand account of Curly's final days that corrects many of the internet's "creepypasta" myths.