Ted Healy

Ted Healy
in the trailer for The Casino Murder Case
Born	Ernest Lea Nash (1896-10-01)October 1, 1896 Kaufman, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 21, 1937(1937-12-21) (aged 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Nephritis
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles
Nationality	American
Occupation	Comedian, actor
Years active	1912—1937
Spouse(s)	Betty Brown (m. 1922–32) Betty Hickman (m. 1936–37)
Children	1

Ted Healy (born Ernest Lea Nash, October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy that they later made famous, he had a successful stage and film career of his own, and was cited as a formative influence by several later comedy stars.

Sources conflict on Healy's precise birth name and birthplace, but according to baptism records, he was born Ernest (or Earnest) Lea Nash on October 1, 1896 in Kaufman, Texas. He attended Holy Innocents' School in Houston before the family moved to New York in 1908. While in New York, he attended high school at De La Salle Institute. Nash initially intended to follow in the footsteps of his father and pursue a career in business, but eventually decided on the stage.

Nash made his first foray into show business in 1912, at the age of 15. He and his childhood friend Moses Horwitz (later known as Moe Howard) joined the Annette Kellerman Diving Girls, a vaudeville act that included four boys. The work ended quickly after an accident on stage, and Nash and Howard went their separate ways. Nash developed a vaudeville act and adopted the stage name Ted Healy.

Healy's act was a hit, and he soon expanded his role as a comedian and master of ceremonies. In the 1920s, he was the highest-paid performer in vaudeville, making $9000 a week. He added performers to his stage show, including his new wife Betty Brown (a.k.a. Betty Braun), and his German Shepherd dog.

When some of his acrobats quit in 1922, Moe Howard answered the advertisement for replacements. Since Howard was not an acrobat, Healy cast his old friend as a (a purported member of the audience who is picked, ostensibly at random, to come onstage). In the routine, Howard's appearance would end with Healy losing his trousers.

Howard's brother Shemp joined the act as a heckler in 1923, and Larry Fine was added in 1925. Healy's vaudeville revues (A Night in Venice, A Night in Spain, New Yorker Nights, and others) included the quartet under various names, such as Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen.