Larry Fine and Gloria Grahame

Who was born on this date:

Actor/ comedienne Larry Fine was born on October 5, 1902 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known as a member of the Three Stooges. In 1925, he met Moe Howard and Ted Healy. Howard and his brother Shemp had been working as audience stooges for Healy. Shemp left soon after to attempt a solo career and was in turn replaced by another brother, Curly. Larry's trademark bushy hair came out, according to rumor, from his first meeting with Healy, in which he had just wet his hair in a basin, and as they talked, it dried oddly. Healy told him to keep the zany hairstyle. Beginning in 1933, The Three Stooges made 206 short films, and several features, with their most prolific period featuring the characters of Larry, Moe and Curly. Their career with Healy was marked by disputes over pay, film contracts, and Healy's drinking and abuse. They left Healy for good in 1934. In many of the Stooge shorts, Fine did more reacting than acting, staying in the background and providing the voice of reason between the extreme characterizations of Moe and Curly. Fine died on January 24, 1975 from a stroke and was buried at Forest Lawn Glendale.

Who died on this date:

On October 5, 1981, actress Gloria Grahame died. She was born on November 28, 1923in Los Angeles. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her film debut. Despite a featured role in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract toRKO Pictures. Often cast in film noir roles, Grahame received a nomination for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for Crossfire (1947), and she won the Oscar for her work in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). She also appeared in Sudden Fear (1952), Human Desire (1953), The Big Heat (1953), and Oklahoma (1955), but her film career began to wane soon afterwards. Grahame had a string of stormy romances and failed marriages during her time in Hollywood, including marriages to director Nicholas Ray. She died on October 5, 1981 from stomach cancer in New York and was buried at Oakwood Memorial park in Chatsworth, California.