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 From Sandie Howard:
I happened to stumble across this web page and I was so touched. The reason is that I am Sandie Howard, Shemps grandaughter. My sister
Jill and I are his only grandchildren. We appreciate the lovely statements made by his fans. I have to admit but they indeed are all true! Of course I enjoyed all the
Stooges because they were all unique. No one could ever copy the style, humor, it was all just them, individual personalities. Yes, I have been told by my grandma
Babe that my grandpa Shemp was just as funny off camera, clowning around at home, I have the photographs to prove it. I will never know as much detail about
Shemp, as a fan would. I know that I do have similarities of him, my personality. I love to make people laugh and love to be around people who have a great sense of
humor, they are very hard to find !!! Lets keep Shemp's memory alive always!
From Jill Howard: Hello, I am Jill Howard, Shemps other Granddaughter. Sandie told me about your web page. I
was pleasantly pleased to see what a wonderful job you are doing to keep Shemp's Memory alive. He is the "UNFORGOTTEN STOOGE" for sure!
From Greg Chiesa: My favorite Shemp scene....Although I can't remember which short this scene was in, it still brings me and my two young
sons to hysterical laughing and tears....Larry, Moe, and Shemp were boxing trainers and were giving lessons to their champ. Unfortunately for Shemp, the champ needed a
replacement sparing partner. Likewise, Shemp was forced to practice box with the champ. While getting prepared for the practice round, Larry ties Shemp's boxing glove to the
boxing ring ropes.....and Shemp can't loosen his one arm. Basically, Shemp is boxing with only one hand....and he's getting slapped
around. The funny part is watching his stringy hair flying around wildly. Then, once he breaks loose his left hand,
he gets brave and starts to dance around like Mohammed Ali. The next scene, you only see Moe and Larry's
faces as they watch the match. You hear several punches and you get the feeling that Shemp is beating the
champ, Moe says, "their goes Shemp with a right, there goes Shemp with a left"....then after a long pause.....you
hear the sound of another punch....and Moe says" "there goes Shemp....". Obviously, Shemp gets knocked out of the ring...Shemp remains my favorite..
From Kirk Landry:
My name is Kirk P. Landry and I am currently the Fire Chief in a small town of about 8000 in
Louisiana. Back in the late 80's I was the senior commiteeman and co-founder of the annual Shemp Festival. It
all started one March afternoon when my friends and I realized it was Shemp's birthday. One of my friends lived
next door to our local bakery and we went over to buy a couple of "pastrys" to celebrate the Howard way. It
became an annual event and grew to global proportions. Articles were written about our Shemp Festival in
newspapers across the nation including an article in Playboy. The festival consisted of a "Hoi Polloi" Ball, A
parade through our city, Shemp look and sound alike contest, Crowning of a Pie Queen, and culminated with the
"Moron's Pie Fight". A thousand pies were thrown each year. We no longer hold the festival but every year a few of us get together and drink a toast to honor our favorite stooge, Shemp.
From Michael Schaeffer: I am glad i found this web site. the stooges are great! i love shemp, i think he is funny
just looking at him. my friends think that i am nuts that i still watch the stooges. i am glad to see that there are many more nuts like me who still enjoy there great film shorts!
From T C Parnell: Ok thought id email you and tell you shemp was 1 my funniest ones. First of all Sing a song
of 6 paints. And it kills me how hes reading the funnys and laughing and the part were terry hergen puts shemp up
on the coat racket slaps him and he spins around and kicks him in the face. My other favorite is LISTEN JUDGE
were shemp and larry are in the kicten and shemp gets mad try to squrt the iceing on the cake he gets mad and
hits it and moe comes in and the iceing forms a ? mark on his face. He walks over to shemp and larry and pops
them both and you can hear larry say oh. Moe says im gonna put off murding you till you collect your pay check
hows the cake? Shemp say wonderful if I didnt hold it down it will float away. Well I have a shemp t-shirt and I just
dont understand why they call him the forgotten stooge. I mean how can he be forgotten when he made nearly 80 shorts with the stooges?
From Miranda Pace:
Im SO GLAD to see Shemp Howard has a site dedicated to him and his fans!!! Most people I meet say Curley is their fav... and while I admit they are ALL wonderful I have a special affection for
Shemp.... his simple ways and puppy dog attitude are so wonderful... and I LOVE the hair... every day watching
the Stooges I wait for a Shemp Short... and every day I tell my Momma... "I LOVE his hair..." Today I think I
must have seen the funniest Shemp scene I ever did see... in Tricky Dicks at the very end... the place has been
shot up.... including poor Shemp... so Moe, in trying to comfort his brother... hands him a bottle of Old Panther
Whiskey and tells him to sip it (riiiight... guzzle guzzle) Finally here comes Larry to check in on the scene... and
as Moe helps Shemp up, Shemp lets out a slight hiccup... "I've been shot!" he mumbles... and Larry goes
histarical "CALL A DOCTOR!" "Nah... call a plumber...." and in priceless Shemp style he throws open his jacket
and procedes to leak whiskey through the bullet hols..... and so, Moe and Larry get out their bathing caps and
take a shower.... I nearly wet myself laughing so hard!!! What a wonderful way to wrap up a not so wonderful week.. Here's to you Shemp!!
From Gretchen Slawinski:
The best shemp film i've ever seen is the one where they're all detectives, punning
the t.v. Series "dragnet". I like the segments between the story's scenes, when they announce their names..."i'm
haliday, i'm tariday"...and then shemp says "i'm christmas day! jingle bells, jingle bells!/ i'm new year's day!/ i'm
labor day!", and "i'm st. Patrick's day!" (incidentally, his birthday happens to be on st. Patty's day!! coincidence?
i think not!) i think it's the cutest film of his, 'cause he's such a kid---like me!!!
From Marion Enwright:
I got my first computer and was surfing for stuff on Shemp and I found your site. Wow! I
was tickled to see the posting that stated a girl said she was in love with him and thought he was a babe. I
thought I was the only one who felt that way! I even have naughty dreams about him. My friends chuckle over it.
Shemp has always been my favorite, and even more so now that I know more about him. I think he and I could
have gotten along. He seems like he was a very beautiful, precious person. He died before I was even born but I am definately looking forward to meeting him in heaven. (Moe too!)
From Jim L: My favorite shemp scene and quite possibly the greatest stooge moment of all time is in the short
where the boys want to be detectives. They are sent off to find a missing uncle in a spooky mansion where the
kidnappers have a zombie like creature that chases the trio around the house. The scene is they find the uncle
but are trapped or by the bad guys with guns and the creature, the uncle quickly turns off the lights so it is now
pitch black, Shemp lights a match and sings "here I am Moe" then turns only to notice that he is face to face with
the goon. I will never stop laughing at this and I will always ask why did he sing? and why did he single out Moe when he life was in such danger.
From Hector Lemaitre: Hi, I send you this message from Chile, South America.Great Idea remeber to Shemp in
the Net. The three stooges are a sweet dream for the rest of my life.
From Billy Goulart: I cannot ever forget the scene in BRIDELESS GROOM when Christine McIntyre finds out
that Shemp ISN'T Cousin Basil....outside the room Moe & Larry are listening to the kisses (they think) and Moe
starts kissing Larry (and the bellboy walks by - that cracks me up) but more importantly funny is right after when
they think the kisses are getting louder and Shemp is getting slapped in the face...I'll always remember that scene.
From Steve Ed Walker:
I grew up on the stooges and always felt strange as a kid when I would tell everyone I
liked Shemp better than Curly. He was just so cool! Some favorite scenes are Moe is telling the stooges they are
going to have to go to work and Shemp, with perfect timing, says " Oh, you said a nasty word". Another one is
when two reporters come in. One says I'm Smith from the Globe-the other says I'm Brown from the sun. Shemp, without missing a beat, says "Oh, that's too bad, are ya peelin'?
From Richard DiSimone: was very happy to see a special place for my favorite STOOGE Shemp. My brothers
and I grew up in the Bronx in New York City. I am 36 now,but when I was a kid, the Three Stooges were on
around 4oo on the afternoon. We would try to do homework and then waych them. The host of the show was
OFFICER JOE BOLTON. He was a policemen who would introduce each episode and comment on the zany
situations. He also did this for the LITTLE RASCALS. My brothers and I always loved Shemp. He reminded us of
our late uncle. My Favorite scene with Shemp is in "Who Done It"(1949). Moe, Larry and Shemp are hired to
protect a millionaire from the Phantom Gang. Christine McIntrye sits down with Shemp in a room in the old
mansion and while flirting with him, puts poison in his drink. He realizes her intentions and then points to a
painting on the wall and comments on it's beauty. He quickly trades gl;asses. She realizes this and does the
same but clinks the glasses instead of actually switching them. Shemp, thinking he now has the poison glass
again points to the picture and comments on how beautiful he thinks it is and switches the glass putting the
poison one in front of him again. After he drinks it ....welll it is pure Shemp at it's best. He starts with the troat
grabbing and slapping....he goes weebbbweeebbbwebbbbebbbeb, stands, bounces to the middle of the living room
and then flips forwards and backwards several times while making his trademark Shemp noise. You can tell it is
a stuntman and it KILLS me every time. I cry with laughter every time I see that scene. Shemp Thank you for
spreading the gift of laughter. To his relatives I say.......You were blessed to have such a talented man in your family.
From Jay Jackson:
I was a kid the first time I saw a Shemp short, and not knowing who he was, I remember being disappointed that Curly wasn't in it. I haven't seen the short in years and can't remember its title, but will
never forget the Stooges walking into their boss' (?) office to be scolded for something... Shemp walks in, takes a
seat, plops his feet up on the boss' desk and begins picking at something caught between his teeth. As the other
men are discussing something (probably of extreme importantance) Shemp just sits there completely impervious
to the conversation trying to dislodge the thing. Finally fed up, he pulls out a pocket knife and strips a two-foot
slab of wood off the side of the desk and uses it for a toothpick. When I saw this scene, I laughed myself to tears.
The way he struggled in determination to rip that wood off, body twitching, hair falling out of place; At that moment,
nothing in the world mattered more to Shemp than knocking that food out of his teeth, and had the boss not
thrown him out, Shemp probably would have torn the building down trying to do it. I've been a fan ever since.
From Jennifer Stillman:
I am so pleased there is a site on the web paying homage to Shemp. I was especially touched by the entries of his family members. I was chatting online the other day with a young girl who told me, in
confidence, that she was "in love" with Shemp. He was, in her words, "a total babe." Smiling at such a refreshing
view of the modest little man, I asked her what had drawn her to him. "He's funny, and he seems very kind."
Perceptive kid! I told her she had great taste. Not long before that, a friend told me that when she was having
troubles as a kid, she would watch the Stooges, and found a lot of comfort in the Shemp shorts especially. What
makes Shemp special is that he plays to his audience his laughs are natural, and his sense of humor sincere.
Shemp's a bit of a Cyrano he may not be "pretty as a picture", but there's no denying the warm personality behind the smile.
From Scott Santa:
I'm a HUGE STOOGE FAN. WOW, A SHEMP site! Got a couple faves myself. In BRIDELESS GROOM, Moe and Larry are trying to get Shemp spruced up to meet Christine McIntyre who thinks
he's Cousin Basil while Shemp is trying to shave looking in a mirror hung from a string that's going around and
around and Moe is trying to hem his pants, Shemp bumps into the the mirror and says to no one in particular
"almost 7 years hard luck", I fall to the floor everytime, he just cracks me up into pieces. Also in HOT SHOTS, the
boys are hunting for the Punjab diamond, in the company of Christine McIntyre (again) the boys sit down, Moe
and Larry start throwing mints into the air and catching them in their mouths. Shemp, who's sitting with Ms.
McIntyre, see's what they're doing, reaches down into the dish on the table in front of him, not knowing that Ms.
McIntyre had hidden the diamond in the mint dish after his first mint goes down his throat, he says (again, to no
one in particular) "with oranges, it's much harder", then proceeds to toss the diamond in the air and swallow it. Thanks again for the ability to pay tribute to Shemp. He's simply the funniest!
From Dora Mouse: Thanks for the archives. I enjoy them a lot, you've done an excellent job not only with content
and layout, but with putting the fans first - more so than the 'official' site. Thank you.) Shemp, I like for many
reasons. First, he does something that often gets overlooked - he plays the younger brother role to Moe, his own
little brother. No, he doesn't do that to copy Curly (yet another little brother), but more to be in sync with Moe's
dominant character. I dunno how many people out there reading this have siblings, but I do. And I can't imagine
what something like this must've been like... Moe and Shemp must have been on really excellent terms with each
other. I can only hope my siblings and I someday have a similar friendship.Another reason is that - as has been
pointed out, Shemp didn't try to copy Curly. He has his own character. Sometimes that gets overlooked too,
because Shemp, Moe & Larry seemed to do a lot of remakes that may have forced some material once written for
Curly onto the others. But mostly - Shemp was funny. He makes it look easy - maybe it was for him. He shared
the camera time a lot more too - bringing out the best, in my humble opinion, in not only Moe and Larry, but most
of the supporting actor/actresses too. I kind of think thou, it would have been neat if once, just once or twice the
three stooges had been a foursome - when Curly was in good heatlh. Shemp, Moe, Curly, and Larry together-can you imagine?
From Dave Kelly: My favorite Shemp scene is from 1947's Brideless Groom where Shemp is mistaken for cousin
Basil and proceeds to get the stuffings beat out of him by the 'gentler sex'! This is also the scene used in the opening credits from the old NBC show "Men Behaving Badly"
From Chris Sherman:
My favorite Shemp scene is in Fright Night when the Stooges are being chased by the
"crooks" and Shemp says "You can't kill me. I got a mother, I got a father. I got a little brother this big. I got a
littler brother this big. And I got a great big brother this big" As he says the"great big brother" line he uppercuts the guy.
From Lawrence Bennett:
Shemp is my favorite Stooge, and one of my all
time favorite scenes is from Malice in the Palace, when the boys are waiters, waiting on the two crooks that are
hell-bent on stealing the Rootin' Tootin diamond. The crooks, after getting the spaghetti thrown on them are about
to cut the boys' throats, when Moe says ".. please don't kill us, after all you're royalty". the crook agrees with Moe
and proclaims "... you are right, it would be beneath me, I am Hassan-Ben Soba". To which Shemp replies "...Aw,
thats all right, I had a few too many myself". Everytime I see this short, I start cracking up in anticipation of this
line. A few minutes later, Shemp is getting licked by the "hotdog weiner". It brings tears to my eyes. Shemp is
much more than a forth Stooge, he brought technical excellence to the shorts by his supurb acting ability, and in turn, he brought out the best in Moe and Larry
From Bill Goodwin:
My aunt Babe was the wife of Shemp. My mother and I lived with Shemp, Babe and their son Morton for about 6 months in the mid 30's. I commend you for recognizing Shemp's ability. He was one of the
original stooges. I can never think of him as a "fourth" stooge. Not only was he a great comedian; he was also a
great person. Not a person could knock on the door looking for assistance that Shemp would not help. He was
one of the kindest persons I ever knew. His death was a result of his trying to help out his brother Moe after his
brother Babe's stroke. The road tours were just too much for his heart which though "large" was not strong enough.
From Steven Korab:
The funniest Shemp gag I've seen was pretty subtle and I don't think many people catch it. There was a scene where the Stooges are drinking a toast of whiskey from small shot glasses. Shemp lifts his
glass and with a tilt of his head backwards, takes a big swig down only to realize his hand was empty, implying
that he swallowed the glas! With the usual shutter of surprise he turns around and continues the scene.
From Joe Slomka: One of my favorite Shemps is when they're stow-aways
with Mr. Borscht, the Russian spy. Larry and Moe get seasick as Shemp
scoffs at them. "Can't take it, huh?" he needles them, stuffing his face with salami, "Gimme the high seas." Then,
a minute after his pals have dozed off, Shemp, too, admits, "I wish I hadn't eaten so much salami." White as a
ghost (a little pancake makeup applied between shots), he accidentally spills some water on the sleeping Moe,
who wakes up and thinks Shemp has barfed on him. As a tribute to Shemp, I've decided that if I ever get a boat, I'm going to name it "The High Seas."
From Cheryl Cohen:
My favorite Shemp scene is from "The Brideless Groom". When Shemp drops his nickel
for the pay phone, and Larry and Moe go in to help him. They wind up tearing the phone booth apart! The scene where Larry burns a hole in his pants is also hilarious.
From Larry Altman: Shemp was the greatest Stooge because he followed Curly in the two reelers, yet he
maintained his own unique identity. Not an easy task considering that Curly was the most copied comedian of
his time. Shemp had a great laugh. Probably the best and longest example of his laugh is found in Rip, Stitch and Sew while Shemp is sewing a pair of pants. Another of my
favorite Shemp scenes occurred in Squareheads of the Round when the King's
guards tell the stooges,"the king requests your presence". Shemp replies
"we ain't got no presents the stores were all closed". I love the guy.
From Walter Matulis:
I feel Shemp was the funniest stooge. I could watch his films time and time again, and still
see something I hadn't caught before. Hidden in the middle of The stooges' "in your face" comedy was Shemp's
subtleties. Little lines like when Moe wacks him he mumbles "I'm comin right back at ya". How about after Moe
gets done beating him,convincing him to go make dinner shemp mumbles to himself " always hittin, pickin, doin
that....he's one of those guys........." as he proceeds to pour hot coffee on himself. Then tries to read the labels
when making the soup. "Muuuuuu stard.....gloves..little gloves.... saggy....... Powdered bacon.......... what'll they
think of next". Of course those were mustard, sage, cloves, and baking powder. Of course it wasn't soup at all, but soap he added all these ingredients to. Needless to say the soup was not very tasty.
From Tom Hippensteel: I, like others here respected the artistry that Shemp portrayed in his stooge shorts. My
younger brother and I used to copy his me-me-me-me-me-me-me snoring routine as we were trying to fall asleep
at night. Shemp was hilarious in his own right. I especially enjoy the scene in "Malice in the Palace". When
Shemp goes to take a bite of the hotdog (assumed part of a real dog by the other boys) and it licks him! His face
contortions, his stringy hair, his walk, his witty comments, all made him one of my favorite stooges.
From Dana Murray:
Shemp is definitely my favorite among Curley, Shemp, and Joe. I've never though of him as
the "fourth" stooge; he actually came before Curley, and left to do movies on his own, and it was Curley who took
HIS place! Shemp returned following Curley's series of strokes in the late 1940's. It irritates the begeebers out of
me whenever I see any mention of the Three Stooges, and Shemp is never mentioned. For example, all the Three
Stooges T-Shirts are always of Moe, Larry and Curley (nothing against Curley, who I do love, it's just that Shemp
is ALWAYS left out! There are so many great Shemp scenes, it's nearly impossible to pick one"favorite"! One
good one is when they're all in Icabod Slips office, and Mr. Slip walks in, says, "Ah Mr. Slip you dirty crook" to Shemp, and proceeds to slap him around, after a few hilarious gags by our Shemp!!!
From Chandra Girtman: I must say that my favorite Shemp gag is from "Sing a Song of Six Pants" where he is
trying to get the pants to stay down so he can iorn them . The first time they stay down but then the roll right up
and he gets so mad that he trys to clent his hands together forgetting that he has the iorn in his hand and he
burns himself. But the part that makes me laugh the most is when he gets on the ironing board to hold the pants down and the iorning board swolls him up and then spits him right out again
From Matt Krimsky: There are SO many great scenes with Shemp it's hard to single any ONE single scene out. In "3 Arabian Nuts" Shemp rubs the "genius' lamp" and when the genie pops out, Shemp casually looks at the
giant and asks him "Hey, Amos, what detains ya?" In "Pardon my clutch" Shemp's tooth pulling scene, in it's
entirety, is hillarious, regardless of the number of times you watch it. When he sees the tooth suspended from the
doorknob after the first (unsuccessful) attempt and says "What a tooth. No wonder it was killing me..." you can't
help but double up. In "For Crimin out loud," the boys are taken to a Police Station by Vernon Dent, a Police
Captain. When they enter, they see a bird on a high chair and Moe asks Shemp, in horror "What's THAT?"
Shemp, in absolute deadpan, replies "Must be a stool pigeon..." Lastly, in "Goof on the roof" Shemp has a great
deal of trouble with a dutch door in the kitchen, and, falling over the lower half at one point, screams and tells the
camera "Oh, that cockeyed door again. I'll fix it..." His threat is said with such outrageous vehemence it's a classic.
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