Curly Howard

$185.00

12 in stock

Only fifteen (15) prints of CURLY HOWARD were produced for this 2017 edition. Each print is signed in the lower right, hand-titled in the center, and numbered in the lower left (all beneath the image).

The image area is approximately 17-1/2″ high x 13″ wide centered on an untrimmed 22″ x 17″ sheet. Paper, ink, and production specifications, as well as shipping details, are available on our PRINT SPECS page.

Prices will increase for subsequent prints as the edition depletes. Purchase price does not include shipping costs, which are calculated during checkout.

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Description

To be a third Stooge was to suffer gratuitous slapstick abuse on a relentless basis. No one received a greater barrage of physical torment than the eternal cinematic man-child, Curly Howard. His underdog Stooge status played a key part in his gaining a legion of adoring fans.

This illustration is based on a publicity photo taken for the 1946 Three Stooges short Monkey Businessmen, one of Curly’s final films. By the mid-1940s his graceful yet ridiculously comic movements became noticeably slower and more lethargic. He dropped weight, and his voice lost its high-pitched vitality, now sounding deeper and more like a strained, sad croak. Nevertheless, he soldiered on as a Stooge, getting battered and bruised for laughs.

That year, Curly suffered a debilitating stroke during the filming of the short Half-Wits Holiday. It ended his career as an actor and forced him into retirement. His older brother Shemp, who had preceded Curly as the third Stooge before leaving in 1932 for a successful solo film career, returned to fill-in for his younger brother. Shemp shined in his role as swing-Stooge for a number of years.

Curly Howard passed away in 1952 at age 48, the shortest life of any of the six Stooges.

— Drew Friedman