Shemp Howard was a gifted physical actor and ad-libber yet his career oddly seemed at times to fly-under-the-radar. A century ago, his onstage life began as the original Stooge for superstar Ted Healy, ultimately gracing Broadway. Alongside brother Moe Howard with Larry Fine - the nucleus of The Three Stooges - they appeared in the feature film Soup to Nuts. He went solo in 105 movies with stars like John Wayne, James Stewart, W.C. Fields and Abbott and Costello.

Returning to The Three Stooges in place of ailing younger brother Jerome (Curly), Shemp saved the act from prematurely ending but sadly he died at the rather young age of 60 in 1955. A Shemp renaissance has attracted attention from gifted artists including Drew Friedman, Tristan Yonce and Darin McGowan, the latter responsible for transporting him to magical cinematic locales like Oz (see photo above).

BearManor Media author and veteran Canadian journalist Geoff Dale probes his fascinating life in this first-ever Shemp Howard book. Foreword by

Geri Howard Greenbaum, Jill Howard Marcus and Sandie Howard Isaac.