Topic: Happy Birthday Shemp!

[curlysdame]

Happy Birthday Shemp!  I'd sing 'The Voices of Spring' in celebration, but I forgot to gargle with old razor blades.   
Since we now know that Shemp's actual birthday is March 4th, and not March 17th, there's two things that I'm curious about...


a)  Why was his birthday listed as March 17th for so long?


b)  When was it discovered that his actual birth date was March 4th?

[moe-jo]

I don't know, but I just wanna say Happy Birthday, Shemp!  You old cutie-pie!  You'll always be remembered in our hearts! 


Shemp:  Hey Moe, where's my personal roller coaster?


Moe:  What?


Shemp:  My birthday present?


Moe:  Ok, whatever.



LOL!  Happy Birthday, Shempo.

[Double Deal Decker]

Happy birthday Shemp !!! One of the funniest guys ever !! And now,...a little birthday serenade:

....."We baked you a birthday cake.
      If you get a 'tummy ache',
      and you moan and groan and woe,.....
      Don't forget WE TOLD YOU SO !!!"

Happy 113th !!! Like Jerome, you left us MUCH TOO SOON.

[BeAStooge]

a)  Why was his birthday listed as March 17th for so long?

b)  When was it discovered that his actual birth date was March 4th?

garystooge's explanation, posted 3/4/04 on the Fan Club's yahoo group board...

What follows is my long-winded opinion on how March 17 incorrectly became gospel as Shemp's birthdate.

Back in 1940, Universal Studios issued a 2-pg bio on Shemp because he was appearing in many of their feature films. This bio listed March 17, 1900 (not 1895) as his birthdate. It also contained several other screwy "facts" (such as Shemp appearing in "Soup to Nuts" with Healy, THEN LATER calling in Moe & Larry to form the Three Stooges).

Now, fast forward to the early 1980s. The Lenburg Brothers are doing research for the Three Stooges Scrapbook. They need to research thousands of facts and are under pressure to meet publisher deadlines. They need to know Shemp's birthdate. It's not in Moe Howard's autobiography or any other book. Joan Maurer doesn't know what it is. Shemp's wife is still alive, but not on the best of terms with Moe's family at the time, so they can't ask her. But their research turns up the aforementioned studio bio. They knew Shemp was 2 years older than Moe who was born in 1897, so the 1900 on the bio couldn't be right, it had to be 1895. But they had no reason to suspect that March 17 was wrong, so they assumed the studio bio had just gotten the YEAR wrong. You can tell this is probably what happened because in the Scrapbook itself, after giving the March 17, 1895 birthdate, they state parenthetically "not 1900 as listed in some studio biographies."

Anyway, once the "bible" of Stooge reference books listed this March 17 date, all other researchers have used it over and over again because there would be no reason to think it's wrong.

The reason I believe March 4 is the true date is because that is what is listed on Shemp's death certificate. The death certificate info was provided by Shemp's son Mort. You would think he knew what his father's birthday was. To view a copy of the death certificate go to:

http://shempcompany.com/death_cert.gif

For many years I've tried to find another primary source document which gives an exact date of birth. I've examined Shemp's 1918 Army discharge, 1942 Selective Service Registration card, 1925 marriage license and other items, none of which give a month and day of birth. Even his mausoleum marker gives only 1895, with no month or day.

The above is merely my opinion on the likely scenario for how the March 17 date became accepted. But until I see some conclusive evidence to the contrary, I feel that March 4 is probably the real date of birth.

garystooge's followup, posted 3/3/05 on this website...
http://threestooges.net/forums/index.php?topic=421.msg2035#msg2035

Just as a follow-up, we are still seeking some documented proof for Shemp's real birthdate, but have not had any luck. Bill Cappello has done extensive research through the NYC Municipal birth archives in hopes of locating a birth certificate to no avail.  We now suspect that since most births at that time took place at home and not in a hospital, that Shemp's birth may have never been reported to the State.

One other point that bears noting is that it's not unusual for there to be confusion over the birth dates of Jews from this time period. Many Jews back then marked occasions such as births by reference to the Jewish calendar and Jewish holidays. They didn't use the same calendar we use today. My grandfather for example, knew only that his birthday was on the 2nd night of Hanukkah. That always falls on a different date using our "modern" calendar, and so there was confusion about his real birth date.

This may have been the situation with Shemp....maybe even he wasn’t sure of his real birthdate.

[Fake Shemp]

Hah! I always thought that Shemp's birthday was on March 17th because of the detective scene in BLUNDER BOYS when Shemp identifies himself as "Saint Patrick's Day". So why did he say it when his birthday is on the 4th? Maybe because his birthday is in March? Oh well, Happy Birthday, Shemp, and thanks for all your hard work as a comedian AND the original third stooge.

[curlysdame]

"Shemp's wife is still alive, but not on the best of terms with Moe's family at the time, so they can't ask her"

I had heard something about that too.  Something involving a law suit.  But other than that, I don't really know the details.  Anyway, thanks for the info BeAStooge!

[moe-jo]

Shemp's birthday presents are as follows:


from Moe:  a soccer ball (the Stooges LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE soccer)
from Larry:  a book about storms (Shemp likes to read about storms)
from Curly:  manga
from Ted:  Ike Turner blues record, The Blues Brothers:  Briefcase Full of Blues, Sam & Dave blues record, Wilson Pickett blues record, and a tartan shirt.

Unfortunately, Shemp did not receive a personal roller coaster from Moe.  Maybe next year.

[FineBari3]

Shemp's birthday presents are as follows:


from Moe:  a soccer ball (the Stooges LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE soccer)
from Larry:  a book about storms (Shemp likes to read about storms)
from Curly:  manga
from Ted:  Ike Turner blues record, The Blues Brothers:  Briefcase Full of Blues, Sam & Dave blues record, Wilson Pickett blues record, and a tartan shirt.

Unfortunately, Shemp did not receive a personal roller coaster from Moe.  Maybe next year.

I don't know if this is a good thing, but I really like your sense of humor, Chickie!!!!!   

Some karma for ya!

[IFleecem]

Happy Birthday Shemp, You may not be Cousin Basil, But You are A Stooge that will never be forgotten.

Robin

[moe-jo]

I don't know if this is a good thing, but I really like your sense of humor, Chickie!!!!!  

Some karma for ya!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  I have 1 karma!!!!!!!  Thank you!!!!!!  Here's a little present for you:   

[Pip Pip]

I've been looking for some further proof of Shemp's birthday as well.  His granddaughters' site states the 17th, so I was going with that.  I know the death certificate states the 4th, but if that's the only document that does, and several others point to St. Patty's Day, I would likely think that would have been where an error was made.  People are so disorganized, especially when it's a sudden death, as Shemp's was.  If anyone comes up with anything more concrete, I'd love to hear about it.

[Robbie883]

Happy Belated Shemp!