Hugh Herbert

For the playwright and screenwriter, see F. Hugh Herbert.

Hugh Herbert
Hugh Herbert in Dames (1934)
Born	(1885-08-10)August 10, 1885 Binghamton, New York, U.S.
Died	March 12, 1952(1952-03-12) (aged 66) North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1927–1952
Spouse(s)	Rose Epstein (1932–1949)

Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952)^[1] was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.

Contents

• 
  1 Career
  


• 
  2 Recognition
  


• 
  3 Personal life and death
  


• 
  4 Brother
  


• 
  5 Partial filmography
  
  
  
  • 
    5.1 As writer
    
  
  
  • 
    5.2 As director
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  6 References
  


• 
  7 External links
  

Career

Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert "had many serious roles, and for years was seen on major vaudeville circuits as a pathetic old Hebrew."^[2]

The advent of talking pictures brought stage-trained actors to Hollywood, and Hugh Herbert soon became a popular movie comedian. His screen character was usually absent-minded and flustered. He would flutter his fingers together and talk to himself, repeating the same phrases: "hoo-hoo-hoo, wonderful, wonderful, hoo hoo hoo!" So many imitators (including Curly Howard of The Three Stooges and Etta Candy in the Wonder Woman comic book series) copied the catchphrase as "woo woo" that Herbert himself began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in the 1940s.^[2]

Herbert's earliest movies, like Wheeler & Woolsey's 1930 feature Hook, Line and Sinker, cast him in generic comedy roles that could have been taken by any comedian. He developed his own unique screen personality, complete with a silly giggle, and this new character caught on quickly. He was frequently featured in Warner Brothers films of the 1930s, including Dames, Footlight Parade, Bureau of Missing Persons, Fog Over Frisco, Fashions of 1934, and Gold Diggers of 1935, as well as the 1935 film adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He played leads in "B comedies", notably Sh! The Octopus, a 1937 comedy-mystery featuring an exceptional unmasking of the culprit.^[2]

He was often caricatured in Warners' Looney Tunes shorts of the 1930s/40s, such as The Hardship of Miles Standish and Speaking of the Weather. One of the minor characters in the Terrytoons short The Talking Magpies (1946) is also a recognizably Hugh Herbertesque bird. In 1939 Herbert signed with Universal Pictures, where, as at Warners, he played supporting roles in major films, and leading roles in minor ones. One of his best-received performances from this period is in the Olsen and Johnson comedy Hellzapoppin', in which he played a nutty detective.^[3]

Herbert joined Columbia Pictures in 1943 and became a familiar face in short subjects, with the same actors and directors who made the Stooges shorts. He continued to star in these comedies for the remainder of his life.

Herbert wrote six screenplays, co-writing the screenplays for the films Lights of New York (1928) and Second Wife (1930) and contributing to The Great Gabbo (1929), among others. He acted in a few films co-written by the much more prolific (but unrelated) screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert: Fashions of 1934 (1934), We're in the Money (1935) and Colleen (1936). He also directed one film, He Knew Women (1930).^[3]

Recognition

Herbert has a star at 6251 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.^[4]

Personal life and death

Herbert was married to Rose Epstein, who was also known by the name Anita Pam.^[2]

Herbert died on March 12, 1952 at the age of 66 from cardiovascular disease in North Hollywood, Los Angeles.^[1]

Brother

Hugh's brother, Tom Herbert, was a screen comedian who played mildly flustered roles. Fans of Laurel and Hardy and The Three Stooges may recall Tom Herbert as the nervous bartender confronted by Lupe Vélez in Hollywood Party (1934). Tom Herbert is featured in the Warner Brothers short subject Double or Nothing (1940) as his brother Hugh's movie double.^{[citation needed]}

Partial filmography

• 
  Husbands for Rent (1927)


• 
  Caught in the Fog (1928)


• 
  Mind Your Business (1928 short)


• 
  Danger Lights (1930)


• 
  Hook, Line and Sinker (1930)


• 
  She Went for a Tramp (1931 short)


• 
  Laugh and Get Rich (1931)


• 
  The Sin Ship (1931)


• 
  Traveling Husbands (1931)


• 
  Friends and Lovers (1931)


• 
  The Lost Squadron (1932)


• 
  Million Dollar Legs (1932)


• 
  Faithless (1932)


• 
  Sham Poo, the Magician (1932 short)


• 
  Strictly Personal (1933)


• 
  Diplomaniacs (1933)


• 
  She Had to Say Yes (1933)


• 
  Goodbye Again (1933)


• 
  Bureau of Missing Persons (1933)


• 
  Footlight Parade (1933)


• 
  'Tis Spring (1933 short)


• 
  College Coach (1933)


• 
  From Headquarters (1933)


• 
  Convention City (1933)


• 
  Easy to Love (1934)


• 
  Fashion of 1934 (1934)


• 
  Wonder Bar (1934)


• 
  Harold Teen (1934)


• 
  Merry Wives of Reno (1934)


• 
  The Merry Frinks (1934)


• 
  Fog Over Frisco (1934)


• 
  Dames (1934)


• 
  Kansas City Princess (1934)


• 
  Good Badminton (1935 short)


• 
  Sweet Adeline (1935)


• 
  Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)


• 
  Traveling Saleslady (1935)


• 
  We're in the Money (1935)


• 
  A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)


• 
  To Beat the Band (1935)


• 
  Miss Pacific Fleet (1935)


• 
  Colleen (1936)


• 
  One Rainy Afternoon (1936)


• 
  We Went to College (1936)


• 
  Love Begins at Twenty (1936)


• 
  Sing Me a Love Song (1936)


• 
  Top of the Town (1937)


• 
  That Man's Here Again (1937)


• 
  A Day at Santa Anita (1937 short) (uncredited)


• 
  The Singing Marine (1937)


• 
  Marry the Girl (1937)


• 
  The Perfect Specimen (1937)


• 
  Sh! The Octopus (1937)


• 
  Hollywood Hotel (1937)


• 
  Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)


• 
  Men Are Such Fools (1938)


• 
  Four's a Crowd (1938)


• 
  The Great Waltz (1938)


• 
  The Family Next Door (1939)


• 
  The Lady's from Kentucky (1939)


• 
  Eternally Yours (1939)


• 
  Little Accident (1939)


• 
  La Conga Nights (1940)


• 
  Private Affairs (1940)


• 
  The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940)


• 
  A Little Bit of Heaven (1940)


• 
  Hit Parade of 1941 (1940)


• 
  Slightly Tempted (1940)


• 
  Meet the Chump (1941)


• 
  The Black Cat (1941)


• 
  Hello, Sucker (1941)


• 
  Badlands of Dakota (1941)


• 
  Hellzapoppin' (1941)


• 
  Don't Get Personal (1942)


• 
  You're Telling Me (1942)


• 
  There's One Born Every Minute (1942)


• 
  Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942)


• 
  It's a Great Life (1943)


• 
  Stage Door Canteen (1943)


• 
  Pitchin' in the Kitchen (1943 short)


• 
  Who's Hugh? (1943 short)


• 
  Oh, Baby! (1944 short)


• 
  His Hotel Sweet (1944 short)


• 
  Kismet (1944)


• 
  Ever Since Venus (1944)


• 
  A Knight and a Blonde (1944 short)


• 
  Music for Millions (1944)


• 
  Woo, Woo! (1945 short)


• 
  Wife Decoy (1945 short)


• 
  The Mayor's Husband (1945 short)


• 
  One Way to Love (1946)


• 
  When the Wife's Away (1946 short)


• 
  Get Along Little Zombie (1946 short)


• 
  Honeymoon Blues (1946 short)


• 
  Hot Heir (1947 short)


• 
  Nervous Shakedown (1947 short)


• 
  Blondie in the Dough (1947)


• 
  Should Husbands Marry? (1947 short)


• 
  On Our Merry Way (1948)


• 
  Tall, Dark and Gruesome (1948 short)


• 
  So This Is New York (1948)


• 
  One Touch of Venus (1948) (scenes cut)


• 
  The Girl from Manhattan (1948)


• 
  A Song Is Born (1948)


• 
  A Pinch in Time (1948 short)


• 
  Trapped by a Blonde (1949 short)


• 
  The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)


• 
  Super Wolf (1949 short)


• 
  One Shivery Night (1950 short)


• 
  A Slip and a Miss (1950 short)


• 
  Woo-Woo Blues (1951 short)


• 
  Havana Rose (1951)


• 
  Trouble In-Laws (1951 short)


• 
  The Gink in the Sink (1952 short)

As writer

• 
  Sunny California (1928 short)


• 
  Lights of New York (1928)


• 
  Mind Your Business (1928 short)


• 
  The Great Gabbo (1930)


• 
  The Second Wife (1930)


• 
  He Knew Women (1930)


• 
  The Sin Ship (1931)

As director

• 
  He Knew Women (1930)

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab Hugh Herbert - L.A. Times Hollywood Star Walk
   


2. 
   ^ ^abcd Harrison, Paul (August 31, 1936). "Can't Discard Funny Face". Xenia Daily Gazette. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 8. Retrieved September 20, 2015 – via Newspapers.com..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab Hugh Herbert on IMDb
   


4. 
   ^ "Hugh Herbert". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
   

External links

• 
  Hugh Herbert on IMDb


• 
  Hugh Herbert at the Internet Broadway Database
  


• 
  Hugh Herbert at Find a Grave
  

Authority control	BNE: XX937506 GND: 1061879674 ISNI: 0000 0000 3814 8036 LCCN: n2003124755 SNAC: w6556hdz VIAF: 33842224 WorldCat Identities (via VIAF): 33842224

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