Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian, actor, violinist, and boxer, who is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges.

Biography

Offstage, Larry was a social butterfly. He liked a good time and surrounded himself with friends. He and his wife, Mabel, loved to party, and every Christmas served lavish midnight meals. Some of his friends called him a "yes man" since he was always so agreeable, no matter what the circumstances.

Larry's devil-may-care personality carried over to the world of finance. He was a terrible businessman and spent his money as soon as he earned it. He had a significant gambling addiction, leading him to gamble away all the money he had on him either at racetracks or high-stakes gin rummy card games. In an interview, Fine even admitted that he often gave money to actors and friends who needed help, and never asked to be repaid. As Joe Besser and director Edward Bernds recall, because of his constant and free spending and gambling, Larry was almost forced into bankruptcy when Columbia stopped filming new Three Stooges films in December 1957.

Because of his profligate ways and Mabel's dislike for housekeeping, Larry and his family lived in hotels—first in the President Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where his daughter Phyllis was raised, then the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. He did not own a house until the late 1940s, when he purchased one in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, California.

On May 30, 1967, Mabel died of a sudden heart attack at age 63. Larry was on the road and about to take the stage for a live show at Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, Rhode Island when he heard the news. He immediately flew home to California, leaving the other two stooges to improvise their remaining shows at the park.

Mabel's death came nearly six years after the death of their only son, John, in a car crash on November 17, 1961, at age 24. Their only daughter, Phyllis, died of cancer on April 3, 1989, at 60.

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