Hugh Herbert
| Hugh Herbert | |
|---|---|
Hugh Herbert in Dames (1934)
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| Born |
August 10, 1885 Binghamton, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 12, 1952 (aged 66) North Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | cardiovascular disease |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian |
| Years active | 1927–1952 |
| Spouse(s) | Anita Pam (19??–19??) Rose Epstein (1932–1949) |
Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952) was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.
Born in New York City, Herbert "had many serious roles, and for years was seen on major vaudeville circuits as a pathetic old Hebrew."
The advent of talking pictures brought stage-trained actors to Hollywood, and Hugh Herbert soon became a popular movie comedian. His screen character was usually absent-minded and flustered. He would flutter his fingers together and talk to himself, repeating the same phrases: "hoo-hoo-hoo, wonderful, wonderful, hoo hoo hoo!" So many imitators (including Curly Howard of The Three Stooges and Etta Candy in the Wonder Woman comic book series) copied the catchphrase as "woo woo" that Herbert himself began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in the 1940s.
Herbert's earliest movies, like Wheeler & Woolsey's 1930 feature Hook, Line and Sinker, cast him in generic comedy roles that could have been taken by any comedian. He developed his own unique screen personality, complete with a silly giggle, and this new character caught on quickly. He was frequently featured in Warner Brothers films of the 1930s, including Dames, Footlight Parade, Bureau of Missing Persons, Fog Over Frisco, Fashions of 1934, and Gold Diggers of 1935, as well as the 1935 film adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played leads in "B comedies", notably Sh! The Octopus, a 1937 comedy-mystery featuring an exceptional unmasking of the culprit.
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