By the author of Edgar Kennedy: Master of the Slow Burn and Vernon Dent: Stooge Heavy.

Discover the missing back-story of the dawn of The Three Stooges in this groundbreaking full-length biography of Ted Healy.

Millions of comedy movie fans still enjoy watching The Three Stooges, but few know the Ted Healy story or the mysterious circumstances that surrounded his untimely death. He began his show business career in Vaudeville and climbed to the pinnacle of fame as a movie star, appearing in dozens of films, such as Dancing Lady (1933) with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, Fugitive Lovers (1934) with Robert Montgomery, Operator 13 (1934) with Gary Cooper and Marion Davies, Reckless (1935) with Jean Harlow, and the Academy Award-winning San Francisco (1936) with Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, and Gable.

Healy's sudden death at age 41 just days after the birth of his son has long been surrounded in mystery and scandal. Was his death by natural causes, or did foul play involving an alleged MGM/Wallace Beery murder cover up the truth?

Author Bill Cassara, a retired law enforcement professional, digs deep into the annals of film history to uncover the riveting, tragic, and at times hilarious truth about Ted Healy, the unjustly forgotten, innovative funnyman.

Includes a richly detailed biography that draws from many never-before-seen sources.