Larry Fine

Larry Fine (born Louis Feinberg; October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975) was an American actor, comedian, violinist, and boxer, best known as the frizzy-haired middle stooge in the slapstick comedy trio The Three Stooges, alongside Moe Howard and Curly Howard (later Shemp Howard and Joe Besser). Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a Russian Jewish family, Fine began his entertainment career as a child violinist in vaudeville and later as an amateur boxer, competing in over 40 bouts before an arm injury from an acid burn in his father's jewelry business led to violin therapy that strengthened his arm and shaped his musical talents.

Fine's rise to fame began in 1925 when he joined the Howard brothers in their vaudeville act, initially under comedian Ted Healy as part of the "Gold Diggers" revue in the 1930 film Soup to Nuts, marking the Stooges' screen debut. The trio broke from Healy in 1934 to star in Columbia Pictures' two-reel comedy shorts, producing 190 films over 25 years until 1959, where Fine often played the bewildered everyman caught between Moe's bossiness and Curly's antics, delivering iconic lines and violin interludes. Their work gained renewed popularity in the late 1950s through television syndication, leading to six feature films between 1959 and 1970, including Have Rocket, Will Travel (1959) and the unfinished Kook's Tour (1970). Fine received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983 for his contributions to motion pictures.

In his personal life, Fine married Mabel Haney in 1927, with whom he had two children: daughter Phyllis and son Johnny, who tragically died in a 1961 car accident at age 24; Mabel passed away in 1967. Known for his affable nature but poor financial decisions, including gambling and generous lending, Fine lived much of his life in Hollywood hotels like the Knickerbocker before purchasing a home in the late 1940s. His career ended after a debilitating stroke in January 1970 while filming Kook's Tour, leaving him bedridden until his death in Woodland Hills, California, at age 72; he was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. Fine's legacy endures through the Stooges' timeless humor, honored in Philadelphia with a 1999 mural and a museum at his birthplace.