Decline By 1944, Curly Howard's energy began to wane. His performances in films such as
Idle Roomers (1944) and
Booby Dupes (1945) present a Curly whose voice was deeper and his actions were slower. It was believed that Howard suffered the first of several strokes between the production of
Idiots Deluxe (October 1944) and
If a Body Meets a Body (March 1945). During Curly's illness, producer-director
Jules White salvaged an incomplete Curly performance by inserting sequences from an older film;
Beer Barrel Polecats (1945) borrowed from
So Long Mr. Chumps (1940). Following the completion of the feature-length ''
Rockin' in the Rockies'' (December 1944), Moe Howard persuaded Curly to seek medical attention. He was admitted to
Cottage Hospital in
Santa Barbara, California, on January 23, 1945. There, he received diagnoses of severe
hypertension,
retinal hemorrhage, and
obesity, necessitating a period of rest. Consequently, only five short films were released in 1945, a notable reduction from the usual six to eight per year. In August 1945 the Stooges appeared in a
Gale Storm musical feature,
Swing Parade of 1946, co-produced at
Monogram Pictures by the Stooges' agent,
Harry A. Romm. Curly appears healthier and more animated than in his concurrent Columbia shorts, but from then on his health would fluctuate from film to film. Despite Moe Howard's appeals to Harry Cohn to grant his brother an extended leave to recuperate, Cohn refused to disrupt the production schedule of the profitable Stooges shorts.
1946 stroke '' in 1949
Half-Wits Holiday, released in 1947, was Howard's final appearance as an official member of The Three Stooges. During filming on May 6, 1946, he suffered a severe
stroke while sitting in director Jules White's chair, waiting to film the last scene. When called by the assistant director to take the stage, he did not answer. Moe looked for his brother; he found him with his head dropped to his chest. Moe later recalled that his mouth was distorted, and he was unable to speak, only able to cry. Moe immediately alerted White, who had to rework the scene quickly, dividing the action between Moe and Larry while Curly was rushed to the hospital, where Moe joined him after the filming. Howard spent several weeks at the
Motion Picture Country House in
Woodland Hills before returning home for further recovery. After Curly's stroke, Shemp agreed to replace him in the Columbia shorts, but only until his younger brother was well enough to rejoin the act. An extant copy of the Stooges' 1947 Columbia Pictures contract was signed by all four Stooges and stipulated that Shemp's joining "in place and stead of Jerry Howard" would be only temporary until Curly recovered sufficiently to return to work full-time. Curly Howard, partially recovered and with his hair regrown, made a brief cameo appearance in January 1947 as a train passenger barking in his sleep in the third film after brother Shemp's return,
Hold That Lion! (1947). It was the only film that featured Larry Fine and all three Howard brothers – Moe, Shemp, and Curly – simultaneously; director White later said he spontaneously staged the bit during Curly's impromptu visit to the soundstage: "It was a spur-of-the-moment idea. Curly was visiting the set; this was sometime after his stroke. Apparently he came in on his own, since I didn't see a nurse with him. He was sitting around, reading a newspaper. As I walked in, the newspaper he had in front of his face came down and he waved hello to me. I thought it would be funny to have him do a bit in the picture and he was happy to do it." In June 1948, Howard filmed a second cameo as an angry chef for the short
Malice in the Palace (1949), but due to his illness, his performance was not deemed good enough, and his scenes were cut. A lobby card for the short shows him with the other Stooges, although he never appeared in the final release.
Retirement Still not fully recovered from his stroke, Howard met Valerie Newman and married her on July 31, 1947. A friend, Irma Leveton, later recalled, "Valerie was the only decent thing that happened to Curly and the only one that really cared about him." Later that year, Howard suffered a second massive stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. He used a wheelchair by 1950 and was fed boiled rice and apples as part of his diet to reduce his weight (and blood pressure). Curly's condition failed to improve. Valerie admitted him into the
Motion Picture & Television Fund's Country House and Hospital on August 29, 1950. He was released after several months of treatment and medical tests, although he returned periodically until his death. He lived the shortest life of the Stooges, dying at the age of 48. He was given a Jewish funeral and was buried at the Western Jewish Institute section of
Home of Peace Cemetery in
East Los Angeles, California. His older brothers Shemp and Benjamin would also be interred there in 1955 and 1976 respectively, near parents Jennie and Solomon. ==Personal life==