Ted Healy, born Ernest Lea Nash, grew up in close friendship with Moses "Moe" and Samuel "Shemp" Horwitz, later to become Moe and Shemp Howard.
In the 1920s, Healy transformed his identity to Ted Healy, recruiting Moe, Shemp, and violinist Larry Feinberg, later known as Larry Fine, to collaborate with him on vaudeville acts featuring himself as the master and the trio as his stooges.
As the 1930s commenced, Ted Healy's addiction to alcohol began to take its toll. Shemp departed the act, and Moe replaced him with Jerome "Curly" Howard. This trio, however, also left the group due to Ted Healy's underpayment and excessive drinking.
Ted Healy spent the remainder of his life focusing on feature films, most notably "Operator 13."
Ted Healy met his untimely demise on December 21, 1937, while celebrating the birth of his son. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as nephritis.
