The team's middleman, Larry Fine, was born Louis Feinberg on October 5, 1902, in the south side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Feinberg, and mother, Fanny Lieberman, owned a watch repair and jewelry shop.
Larry was the first of four children; he had two brothers, Morris and a younger brother, Philip, who died prematurely, and a sister, Lyla, who became a school teacher. He wasn't even a year old when his parents and friends started treating him like a celebrity. He stole the show as an entertainer while still in diapers. One time, at just two years of age, his father propped him up on top of a jewelry showcase to show relatives how well he could dance. Larry managed to do a few dance steps before losing his balance and falling backward through the glass top of the display case. Luckily, he emerged unharmed.
Morris Feinberg recalls that Larry had another close call in his youth. "Larry wasn't so fortunate the next time he got into trouble. It happened when Dad was testing metals to see which were gold. He used a powerful acid that when applied to base metals would turn them green or burn a hole in them. Gold, however was not affected by the acid. One day Dad had removed the stopper from the acid bottle, leaving it uncovered. A thirsty Larry stood unnoticed at his side. As he reached for the bottle of acid to raise it to his mouth and drink, Dad saw him out of the corner of his eye and smacked the bottle from his hand, splashing acid on his left arm and burning it badly."
Larry required immediate medical attention and a skin graft was done on his arm. After the surgery, doctors recommended that he be given violin lessons as a form of therapy. It was believed that the action of drawing the bow over the strings would strengthen his damaged arm muscles. Little did Larry realize that the violin would become an important tool in his career.
In his teens, Larry had aspirations of becoming a comedian - even a star. He enjoyed putting on shows for anyone who would watch him. As a result, he gained valuable experience. Larry's skill as a violinist became so impressive that he was asked to play professionally. At age ten, as a student at Southwalk Grammar School, he soloed at a children's concert at the Roseland Dance Hall in Philadelphia. Backed by Howard Lanin's orchestra, he played "Humoresque" on his violin.
Morris remembers that Larry eventually became a versatile musician. "He was a natural- born performer and could play any instrument he got his hands on - piano, clarinet, saxophone and brass. He even constructed a violin out of a cigar box and a broom handle. He played its single string like a cello, holding it between his knees."
Music now in his blood, Larry played on the bill of local theater amateur nights, taking top prizes in most of these contests. Which didn't surprise his peers, since he was certainly good at his craft. During this period he interspersed his musical talents with pugilistic skills, earning money as a lightweight boxer, fighting over 40 bouts. By age fifteen, he started singing along with movie slides at Philadelphia theaters-the Keystone, Alhambra, Broadway, Nixon's Grand and the Allegheny-where he received two dollars for each performance. All of this was accomplished while he was still a student at Central High School. In later years, he would go on to develop an act in which he would do a Russian dance while playing the violin.
In 1921, Larry landed a job in Gus Edwards' Newsboy Sextette, playing the violin, dancing and telling jokes in a Jewish dialect. On the bill with him was Mabel Haney, who would later become his wife. Mabel, with her sister, Loretta, joined Larry in an act called "The Haney Sisters and Fine." The trio worked together in vaudeville until 1925, playing the RKO, Orpheum, Keith-Orpheum and Delmar Circuits and the Paramount Theatre in Canada.
Norman Maurer recalls that Larry was surrounded by friends, some of whom were ready and waiting to take his money. "Larry would wait around at the end of a booking during personal appearance tours. Then, the minute Moe would go to the theater manager to get their money, Larry would take his cut and ten minutes later it was gone. It would be spent on life's luxuries: diamond rings, fur coats and on the horses. Or if one of his friends would say, `Larry, I've got a deal-this non-sinkable bathing suit... all we need is $l5,000'-- Larry was had!"
But Norman Maurer believes that Larry's talent as an actor and comedian were commonly overlooked in Stooges comedies. As he put it: "I think Larry was the best actor of the three. I used to argue with Moe about giving him more lines because Larry was good, but Moe was against it."
Larry had two children, a son, Johnny, who died in a tragic automobile accident on November 17, 1961, at age 24, and a daughter, Phyllis. His wife Mabel died on May 30, 1967, during the Memorial Day weekend while the Stooges were on tour. Larry left the show when he learned of his wife's death and, in true show business tradition, Moe and Curly-Joe carried out the team's three-day engagement.
Fine's favorite hobbies included teaching serious music, preferably jazz, the kind Andre Previn, Percy Faith, Morton Gould and Andre Kostelanetz popularized. His favorite Stooge: Curly. As he once commented, "Personally, I thought Curly was the greatest because he was a natural comedian who had no formal training. Whatever he did he made up on the spur of the moment." Larry's favorite sport was baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers his favorite team. He also enjoyed going to the boxing matches.
Larry's favorite actors were Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and Peter Falk, while Milton Berle, Jack Benny and Redd Foxx were his choice for comedians. His favorite Stooges films were Scrambled Brains (1951) and The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962). Runner-up favorites included You Nazty Spy (1940) and I'll Never Heil Again (1941).
