Larry began performing as a violinist at a young age. During his teenage years, he earned his living as a singer and boxer. At 18, Larry began working vaudeville with "The Haney Sisters and Fine" and in 1925, he joined 'Ted Healy' . Fine made more than 200 films before a stroke forced him to retire in 1970.
Original member of The Three Stooges.
As a child, Larry spilled a bottle of a powerful acid, badly burning his left arm. Doctors recommended that he take violin lessons as therapy to strengthen the damaged muscles. At age ten, he played a solo piece, backed by the Howard Lanin Orchestra. His parents even considered sending him to Europe to study music, but they decided against this when World War I began.
When Larry joined the Stooges, Ted Healy offered him a salary of $90 a week and an extra $10 if he threw away the violin.
During his 40-year film career, Larry only appeared in one film that did not also feature fellow Stooge Moe Howard. That film is Stage Mother .
Following his death, he was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Liberation.
Larrys final concert appearance was at Loara High School in Anaheim, California on March 2, 1974.
Father of actress Phyllis Fine and John Fine.
After Columbia shut down its shorts department, the Stooges took their act on the road. What they did not know was that they had found a renewed popularity thanks to television. Larrys sister said when the train pulled into some town, there was a mob of people waiting. Larry wondered who the V.I.P. was; they had no idea the crowd of people waiting was for them.
Larry had calluses on the left side of his chin, which he claimed resulted from years of getting slapped around by Moe in the movies. But Larry was a trained violinist from childhood, and this type of scarring is an occupational hazard among fiddle players.
Father-in-law of Don Lamond , who appeared in several Stooges full-length features and also hosted the local Three Stooges television show in Los Angeles, California in the late 1950s and early 1960s (which helped give The Three Stooges careers a renaissance).
Has a mural painted of him on a building at 3rd and South Streets in South Philadelphia.
When Joe DeRita was brought into The Three Stooges (as "Curly Joe"), Moe wanted to make him simply an employee. It was Larry who insisted that he be made a full equal partner. Larry reportedly threatened to quit unless Joe was treated fairly.
After his stroke, he never performed again.
In 1973, Fine appeared in an infomercial promoting a book, "A Stroke of Luck", presented as his memoir. In fact, Fine later disavowed this book; the later authorized biography, "One Fine Stooge" , goes into considerable detail of how the books author/publisher took advantage of Fine in its preface.
Offstage, Larry was a social butterfly. He liked a good time and surrounded himself with friends. He and his wife, Mabel Haney, loved to party, and every Christmas served lavish midnight meals. Some of his friends called him a "yes man", since he was so agreeable, no matter what the circumstances.
When first approached to work for the Three Stooges, he was performing at the Rainbow Gardens nightclub, under contract to Fred Mann. A few nights after being approached, the police closed the Rainbow Gardens for violating the Prohibition laws, and Fred Mann committed suicide. Now free of his contract, Larry joined the Three Stooges.
Lived in the hills of Griffith Park.
Owing to his wifes dislike of housekeeping, the Fines spent years living in hotels until they finally purchased a home in Los Angeles after World War II. One hotel that had been their "home base" for years was the President Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which has since been demolished.
His son John died in a car accident on November 17, 1961. He was 24 years old. His daughter Phyllis died of cancer on April 3, 1989. She was 60 years old.
In his youth, he trained as a boxer and had several bouts as an amateur before his father found out and put a stop to it. However, his boxing training did come in handy for his later career with Ted Healy and then The Three Stooges.
His wife, Mabel Haney, died of a sudden heart attack on May 30, 1967. Larry was on the road and about to take the stage for a live show when he heard the bad news. He immediately flew home to Woodland Hills, California.
His parents, Joseph Feinberg and Fanny Lieberman, owned a watch repair and jewelry shop at South Street in South Philadelphia.
Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard were awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
The same day the Three Stooges left Ted Healy and MGM, Moe Howard signed a contract for them with Columbia Pictures, and Larry, not aware of this, signed a contract for them with Universal Studios. The matter was eventually taken before a judge who determined Moes contract was valid because it was signed mere hours before Larrys contract. After that, Larry never tried handling the business aspect of their careers again and instead left all that to Moe.
Renowned for his spending, in an interview with Three Stooges Writer/Director Edward Bernds, he said when Columbia shut down the Shorts Departmenrt, Larry was nearly forced into bankruptcy.
Billy West based the voice of Stimpy on "The Ren & Stimpy Show" on Larry.
According to Larry Fine , the 3 Stooges were favorites of Harry Cohn , the boss of Columbia Pictures. Larry recalled that in the late 1950s, when other Hollywood studios were phasing out theatrical short-subjects, Cohn reassured them with these words: "You guys are good luck to me. As long as Im alive youve got a job here". Cohn died in 1958 and Columbia immediately shut down its shorts department, putting the Stooges out of work.
