Samuel Horwitz, known as Shemp Howard, was born on March 17, 1895. Shemp was a lot like Moe. They both were not good at getting good grades in school, but at causing trouble. That is not to say they were not smart, but they did not have the commitment to school. They both spent a fair amount of time playing hooky and going to plays. Shemp was the only one concerned with Moe going to Mississippi, and according to Joan Howard, Moe’s daughter, it was because "... The only one nervous about him leaving for Mississippi was Shemp, and maybe he was jealous because he didn’t have the courage to go himself. Shemp was a worrywart."⁹ Shemp never learned to drive. This might have been due to an incident he had during a driving lesson with Moe. Moe tried to get Shemp to drive, and on one of his lessons, Shemp drove through the front window of a barber shop. After that, Shemp decided he was too afraid to drive. As Curly said, Shemp was "afraid of everything." The character he played in the shorts was said to be nothing like the way Shemp normally acted.

Like Moe, Shemp did not pursue an extensive career in school. He studied to be a plumber for a short period of time, then decided to go with the Stooges. His knowledge of plumbing became influential and useful when the Stooges would make episodes about plumbing. He began his career as a comedian in Vaudeville, and he also appeared in Columbia shorts as a solo comedian, after he left the Stooges.

Shemp married Gertrude Frank in 1925, the same year he joined Ted Healy, and they later had his only son Morton Howard. Shemp was married until he died of a heart attack in 1955 after watching a boxing match, one of his favorite activities.

Although he is not usually recognized as being the original Stooge, he first hooked up with Ted Healy in 1925, and started Stooging. He later brought in his brother Moe, and friend Larry Fine. In 1932, Shemp left the Stooges to try to be a solo comedian. At this point, Moe invited Curly to replace Shemp. Shemp later returned to the Stooges in 1946 after Curly had a stroke. That time Shemp stayed with them. Shemp made many shorts with Moe and Larry, and Curly even had a cameo in some of them.

Although Moe was considered the most well trained actor of the group, Shemp was described as the most naturally funny of all the Stooges. After Shemp’s heart attack in 1955, Moe hired Joe Besser to replace Shemp. The era of the Howard boys working together was over.