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Paul Garner (July 31, 1909 – August 8, 2004) was an American comedian who best known as Mousie Garner. He earned his nickname by acting like a simpering jokester with a penchant for shyness. Garner was one of the last actors still doing schtick from vaudeville, and has been referred to as "The Grand Old Man Of Vaudeville."
The Three Stooges[]
Garner was one of over 20 comedians who worked as part of Ted Healy's stooge act with his cousin, Jack Wolf and Richard Hakins between 1922 and 1936.
In 1931, the original stooges, Shemp Howard, Moe Howard and Larry Fine left Healy and form their own act "Three Lost Souls" (also known as "Howard, Fine & Howard"). Garner, Jack Wolf and Dick Hakins were hired by Healy to take their places on Broadway shows, with Garner being recognized as the replacement for Shemp to the point of even styling his hair in a similar manner. After the Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine & Curly Howard) left Healy again and formed their own act, "The Three Stooges", in 1934, Garner, Jack Wolf (later replaced by Sammy Wolfe) & Hakins took their places permanently. Following Ted's death in 1937, Mousie, Dick and Sammy Wolfe formed their own act called "The Gentlemanics". When The Gentlemaniacs began billing themselves as "Ted Healy's Original Stooges", Moe, Larry and Curly sued them for using Three Stooges moniker and won.
Mousie Garner. circa 1950s
After Joe Besser left the act in 1957, Larry suggested Garner to Moe as a replacement for Joe. Moe allowed Garner to audition, but he felt Garner was "unacceptable" as a Stooge. Moe ultimately chose veteran burlesque comic Joe DeRita in December, 1958.
In 1974, The Three Stooges had booked a tour of stage and nightclub shows and personal appearances. However, Larry Fine had suffered a debilitating stroke in 1970 and Joe hired Garner as "middle stooge" to fill Larry's role in what would ultimately be the last official incarnation of the Three Stooges. Longtime Stooge collaborator Emil Sitka was being prepared to assume the role on a more permanent basis, but those plans never got beyond a photo shoot. Garner and Joe asked Moe to join the tour, but Moe's health was deteriorating, leaving him unable to make personal appearances. With Moe's permission, veteran actor Frank Mitchell was given the role of "first stooge" and the act was billed as "The New Three Stooges".
This new incarnation of the group performed mostly music-based comedy, a good portion of which was reworked from Garner's nightclub act. The first appearance of the team was at a nightclub just outside Boston, MA. Despite concerns by the team that the act would flop due to them not being the "real stooges", it was a great success. The act toured throughout the year, but was cut short due to DeRita's failing eyesight.
Later years[]
In 1985, Garner was given a bit part in, appropriately, the film Stoogemania. In 1994, he was then appeared in the film Radioland Murders as an homage to his work in vaudeville. Also in 1994, he appeared as himself in A&E's Biography of The Three Stooges, titled The Men Behind the Mayhem. His autobiography, entitled Mousie Garner: Autobiography of a Vaudeville Stooge, was published in 1999. His nephew, Stephen Garner, a professional magician from Maryland, supplied most of the pictures for the book. Garner also played a zany cameraman in David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigolo" music video. He also acted as Uncle Smackers, a character in The Onion Movie, a feature film produced by David Zucker, renowned for Airplane! and the Naked Gun series.
After suffering from kidney problems, Garner quietly died on August 8, 2004, at age 95. He was the last major celebrity associated with Ted Healy and Three Stooges to pass.