Editing Shemp Howard (section)

===Show business===
Shemp's brother [[Moe Howard]] started in show business as a youngster, on stage and in films. Moe and Shemp eventually tried their hands as minstrel-show-style "blackface" comedians with an act they called "Howard and Howard{{snd}}A Study in Black". At the same time, they worked for a rival vaudeville circuit, without makeup.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}

By 1922, Moe had teamed up with his boyhood friend [[Ted Healy]] in a "roughhouse" act. One day Moe spotted his brother Shemp in the audience and yelled at him from the stage. Quick-witted Shemp yelled right back, and walked up onto the stage. From then on he was part of the act, usually known as "Ted Healy and His Stooges". The Howard brothers were the original Stooges; [[Larry Fine]] joined them in 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.threestooges.net/journal/view/155|title=ThreeStooges.net :: The Three Stooges Journal – Issue No. 155|first=Robert|last=Davidson}}</ref> On stage, Healy sang and told jokes while his three noisy stooges got in his way, and Healy retaliated with physical and verbal abuse. Shemp played a bumbling fireman in the Stooges' first film, ''[[Soup to Nuts]]'' (1930), the only film where he played one of Healy's gang.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}

After a disagreement with Healy in August 1930, Moe, Larry and Shemp left to launch their own act, "Howard, Fine & Howard", and joined the [[Keith-Albee-Orpheum|RKO vaudeville circuit]]. They premiered at Los Angeles's Paramount Theatre in August 1930. In 1931, they added "Three Lost Soles" to the act's name and took on Jack Walsh as their straight man. Moe, Larry and Shemp continued until July 1932, when Ted Healy approached them to team up again for the Shuberts' Broadway revue "Passing Show of 1932", and they accepted the offer. In spite of their past differences, Moe knew an association with the nationally known Healy would provide opportunities the three comics were not getting on their own.<ref>https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/moe-howard</ref>

On August 16, 1932, in a contract dispute, Healy walked out of the Shuberts' revue during rehearsals. Three days later, tired of what he considered Healy's domineering handling of the Stooges' career, Shemp left Healy's act to remain with "Passing Show", which closed in September during roadshow performances and after pan reviews in Detroit and Cincinnati. Shemp regrouped to form his own act and played on the road for a few months. He landed at Brooklyn's [[Vitaphone]] Studios for movie appearance opportunities in May 1933. When he split from Healy, Shemp was immediately replaced by his and Moe's younger brother [[Jerry Howard]], known as Curly.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/29769/final-years-curly-three-stooges-fame|title=The Final Years of Curly (of Three Stooges Fame)|work=[[Mental Floss]]|last=Deezen|first=Eddie|date=January 18, 2012|access-date=July 2, 2017}}</ref>