Email from Jill Howard Re: Shemp's No Stroke......
Ltb3105
Shemp's granddaughter......thanks for those of you who emailed me with
instructions on "copy and paste"....hope this umday tomatoe does it right!
Subj: Re: Hey, Whatsa Matta, Ya Weak?!
Date: 6/27/00 8:48:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: Jillyxo
To: Ltb3105
Hi Laura....I don't know what happened????? i don't think I got the email?
Sorry.....I always try to get back within a few days or so.
Anyway, Shemp never had a stroke........not sure where that rumor came from?
You guys are on the right track. As far as the book, all the "writers" still
want toooo much $$$$$$$ so we are still checking around. Amazing how much
graft there is in the world.
Sandie and I are going to be out of town for the next week or so, so, if
neither one of us answers any of our mail, just hang in there until after July
9th. We are planning a surprise birthday for our Mom and it has taken all the
energy we can put into it!!
Hope all is well with you........have a great week
Warm regards,
Jill
Yea!!!!! I did it! This is collosal!!!
Laura :-)
P.S. The book Jill is referring to are the memoirs they found of their Grandma
Babe of her life with Shemp and the Stooges........greed has also found its way
to the granddaughters' domain too! Wonder if they'll EVER publish it??
James L. Neibaur
The book Jill is referring to are the memoirs they found of their Grandma
Babe of her life with Shemp and the Stooges........greed has also found its way
to the granddaughters' domain too! Wonder if they'll EVER publish it??
------
It does not cost anything to get a book published! Who the hell is charging
her money to publish it? Whoever it is, tell her to forget about them and find
someone else (I can help).
JN
visit my Favorite Movies web page:
http://hometown.aol.com/jimneibr/myhomepage/movies.html
and my Favorite Performers web page:
http://hometown.aol.com/jimneibr/myhomepage/rant.html
Ltb3105
It does not cost anything to get a book published! Who the hell is charging
>her money to publish it? Whoever it is, tell her to forget about them and
>find
>someone else (I can help).
Jim:
Jill mentioned something about "writers".......maybe they're hiring someone to
help "write" it out for them??
If you can help, just email her at Jil...@AOL.com...........
Laura
zol
Ltb3105 wrote in message <20000627182857...@ng-da1.aol.com>...
>Here is the entire content of the email I received today from Jill Howard,
<unpasted Jill's e-mail>
Thanks for sharing this with us Laura. I really hope they can get the book
published.
zol
Ltb3105
You're welcome.......and besides getting that book published, I wish they can
clear up some of the cobwebs in the old books!!!
I can't believe Shemp's granddaughters do not know of Forrester's book and all
the misconceptions and falsities it has! If that were MY dad or granddad, I'd
be calling everyone up that ever considered writing a book about them, to make
sure the truth is known!
BTW, before someone writes a biography or other book, don't they have to get
permission from the living relatives?? How about movies? Can they just make
them or do they need permission?
I can't believe that Forrester's comments in his book went unnoticed this long
and that observing fans didn't point this out about Shemp's so called "stroke"
a long time ago!! Or his relatives, for that matter!
Laura
SaxonCow
>I can't believe that Forrester's comments in his book went unnoticed this
>long
>and that observing fans didn't point this out about Shemp's so called
>"stroke"
>a long time ago!!
I have a Jeffrey Forrester book, and there in no mention at all of a Shemp
stroke. If it's just that one book by Forrester and no others that mention a
stroke, maybe people just assumed it was a mistake, or maybe it wasn't that big
of a deal.
I never thought he had a stroke, and I'm relieved he apparently didn't, but
whether he had a minor one or not nearing the age of 60 isn't a big enough deal
to me to make a major case out of it -- not that that's what happened here, but
it might explain why "observing fans didn't point this out".
Ltb3105
>stroke
Kirk:
If it's "The Stooge Chronicles", yep, it's in there.......if not, then maybe
Forrester wrote more than one book?!
Laura
SaxonCow
>Kirk:
>If it's "The Stooge Chronicles", yep, it's in there.......if not, then maybe
>Forrester wrote more than one book?!
>Laura
>
He wrote at least two that I know of. I have Stoogephile Trivia Book, which
despite its title, is more than just trivia. It has bios of all the Stooges and
the other main supporting players behind and in front of the camera.
I've never found any mistakes in this 1982 book, but as I said, there is no
mention of a Shemp stroke at all.
There are a couple of questionable items though, such as Shemp staying home
and hiding behind a piano every time his wife was out serving as an Air Raid
Warden, but some of that could be attributed to exaggeration on the part of his
wife to make the story sound better. Was he really THAT neurotic about his fear
of everything? I doubt it.
Who knows.....
Ltb3105
> He wrote at least two that I know of. I have Stoogephile Trivia Book,
Okay, then that explains it! I, too, also read about Shemp hiding from the Air
Raids ! I think it's all exaggeration myself.....maybe Shemp did have a few
"quirks"......."a jerk with a quirk can stick a clerk".....lol........but
everyone played it up for entertainment purposes........
I still love Shemp dearly, no matter what was wrong with him.......everyone's
got something..............
Laura
James L. Neibaur
I can't believe Shemp's granddaughters do not know of Forrester's book and all
the misconceptions and falsities it has! If that were MY dad or granddad, I'd
be calling everyone up that ever considered writing a book about them, to make
sure the truth is known!
-----
Of call the books on the Stooges, Jeff's has the least inaccuracies with the
exception of The Columbia Comedy Shorts by Okuda and Watz.
Jim Burns
I think we may all be missing the obvious here--
That Jill, herself, may be misremembering!
The Shemp Howard granddaughters seem to be/are terrific people--
I've exchanged Emails with Sandie, and she's--as many of you here
already know--
a very nice person.
(Sandie, actually,is a frequent contributor, to one of the other STOOGES
info-groups.)
But Jill was just a youngin when Shemp passed away, and Sandie, if I
remember correctly, wasn't even born yet!
Since, I think it has be safe to presume that J. Forrester
didn'tfabricate his interview with the Howards' grandmother--
It's clear, that somebody, at least, DID misremember!
There's an interesting phenomenon, with the descendants, and other
relatives, of aged, or deceased celebrities--
(And the following IN NO WAY applies to the Shemp gals, Jill and
Sandie--I'm speaking GENERALLY here.)
--Which I'm sure many of the film historians, here, have also
encountered.
When interviewing, or simply chatting with, the relatives of a
celebrity, they sometimes start offering info as part of their
recollections--
That is CLEARLY recognizable, as something they READ, in one of the
published histories, on their family member!
Some times, particularly with much older folk, the line between what
they actually remember, and what they themselves have read about their
relative, has blurred.
..So, at least, the SEARCH for total accuracy, prevails!
Jim Burns
James L. Neibaur
There's an interesting phenomenon, with the descendants, and other
relatives, of aged, or deceased celebrities---Which I'm sure many of the film
historians, here, have also
encountered.
------
Even the celebrity himself will tell a story differently because it sounds
better in the context of more recent times. Fortunately there are often areas
of documentation that can be examined.
Babe Howard told Jeff Forrester that Shemp suffered a mild stroke. Jeff
printed it. The Shemp granddaughters do not remember this ever being
discussed, so naturally they dismiss it as a rumor. Either it actually
happened or Babe Howard chose to fabricate it.
This all started when someone made the indication (citing Jeff's book), in
regard to Shemp's performances seeming more lackluster around 1954 or so. I
honestly never noticed this (I certainly notice it regarding Curly, even when I
saw the films as a child). But others did, so it was investigated.
The bottom line still is that Shemp is a very clever, funny man; and that 60 is
far too young to die. Those facts are unaltered.
moving on,
Garystooge
>Laura stated:
>
>I can't believe Shemp's granddaughters do not know of Forrester's book and
>all
>the misconceptions and falsities it has!
I don't think Jeff Forrester made up or misquoted Babe Howard's story about
Shemp's stroke for the following reasons.
First off, Jeff was very diligent about tape recording his interviews. I
know this for a fact because I have purchased audio tapes of some of the
interviews he did with Sitka, Bernds, etc for his books.
Secondly, Babe Howard was quite fond of Jeff. He obtained several of Shemp's
personal possessions from her. I've seen the letters she wrote to him signed
"Grandma"Babe Howard. So Babe would have felt comfortable telling this to him.
And remember that when Jeff's book came out, Babe was still alive. So if Jeff
made the story up, what was he going to tell his "Grandma" when she saw the
story in the book?
Finally, Jeff had no real reason to make up the story. It wasn't going to
sell additional books. It only took up a paragraph so it's not like he was
trying to stretch his book out by including it.It doesn't make sense.
Of course none of this is proof positive but I think that if someone made up
the story about the stroke, it was more likely Babe Howard than Jeff Forrester.
Maybe Shemp did have a stroke. Perhaps some day we can uncover some more
conclusive evidence.
Gary
Ltb3105
it.....your reasons make sense....however, why would Babe make it up??!!
And Stephen, that makes sense, too, about four witnesses telling different
stories about a car accident.....so who really knows?
Now, if only we can figure out "WHO threw those pies?"
Hehe....
Laura