Death
On November 22, 1955, while returning home by taxicab from a boxing match (one of Shemp's favorite pastimes), he died of a heart attack. He was lighting a cigar after telling a joke when he suddenly slumped over on his friend Al Winston's lap. Al thought Shemp was acting out the joke before realizing he was actually dead. Moe's autobiography gives a death date of November 23, 1955, as do most subsequent accounts because of Moe's book. But much of that book was finished posthumously by his daughter and son-in-law, and some specific details were confused as a result. The Los Angeles county coroner death certificate states that Shemp Howard died on Tuesday, November 22, 1955 at 11:35 PST; confirming that, Shemp's obituary appeared in the November 23 afternoon editions of L.A. newspapers, establishing the night of November 22 as the date of death. He was interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, as was his brother Curly.
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