Larry Fine - Early Life

Early Life

Fine was born to a Jewish family as Louis Feinberg at 3rd and South Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Feinberg (who was Russian-Jewish), and mother, Fanny Lieberman, owned a watch repair and jewelry shop. In early childhood, his arm was burned with acid that his father used to test whether or not gold was real: having mistaken it for a beverage, Larry had raised the acid bottle to his lips when his father noticed and knocked it from his hand, accidentally splashing Larry's forearm. He was later given violin lessons to help strengthen the damaged muscles, a skill which would be put to use in many of the Stooges' films. He became proficient on the instrument, and his parents wanted to send him to a European music conservatory, but the outbreak of World War I prevented this. In scenes where all three Stooges are playing fiddles, only Larry is actually playing while the other two are only pantomiming. To strengthen his arm further, Larry took up boxing in his teens, fighting in (and winning) one professional bout. His father, opposed to Larry's fighting in public, put an end to his brief career as a pugilist.