SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: MURDERLIZED

"Murderlised" by Max Allan Collins & Mathew V. Clemens  (first published in Hollywood and Crime:  Original Crime Stories Set in the History of Hollywood, edited by Robert J. Randisi, 2007; reprinted in the Collins and Clemens collection Murderlized, 2020)

Basically a Nate Heller story without Nate Heller.

Max Allan Collins is known for many things, of the least of which is his talent for taking finely researched historical and spinning a unique detective twist on them.  In the past, Nathan Heller has investigated the Lindbergh kidnapping, the attempted assassination of Mayor Huey Long, the Harry Oakes murder, the Black Dahlia case, the death of Marilyn Monroe, and the Kennedy killings (both Bobby and Jack), among others.  Now Collins and frequent writing partner Matt Clemens look into the death of entertainer Ted Healy.

And who needs Nate Heller when you have Moe Howard of The Three Stooges fame?

Once upon a time Healy was Charles Ernest Lee Nash, a struggling vaudevillian, as were Moses and Samuel Horovitz, who eventually became Moe and Shemp Howard.  The Howards' break came when Healy invited the pair on stage during his act to become his "stooges."  Over time, the Stooges caught on, adding younger brother Jerome ("Curly").   Healy was a drunk, mean-spirited, tight-fisted s.o.b. who he maintained control of the Stooges during the early days.  When the Stooges would be getting a hundred dollars a week, Healy would be pocketing a thousand.  Eventually, they parted ways, acrimoniously.  Shemp went on to other things and was replaced by Larry Fine (originally Feinberg).  Although the Stooges had a lot of resentment toward Ted Healy, Moe always felt a feeling of friendship toward the man who had ignited their careers.  Moe still loved the lousy son of a bitch.

And then Ted Healey died.   The newspaper report that evening indicated that he had been beaten in a brawl.  All news reports the next day hushed that up, reporting Healy had died of "acute toxic nephritis," a clear sign that one of MGM's "fixers" had been at work -- changing the narrative so no scandal would fall on the studio or its stars.  Moe needed to find out what had really happened.  He felt he owed his frenemy that at least.

Eventually he discovered that Healey was drunk at a bar and got into an argument with three people.  Healy insisted they take out to the street where he would take the three on one at a time.  There was no doubt that Healy was the one who started the fracas.  Outside the bar, however, all three attacked Healy at the same time, beating him mercilessly.  (For those who did not buy acute toxic nephritis story, the studio's fixer came up with the story that the three who attacked Healy were random college students.) In reality, one of the three was Wallace Beery, reputed to be a pretty nasty brawler himself; Beery suddenly found himself in Europe, his latest film role being taken over by Lionel Barrymore.  A second man was the cousin of a powerful hoodlum; he suddenly pulled up stakes and went to Mexico.  The third was a New Jersey kid who wanted to get into show business named Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who would eventually become the producer responsible for the James Bond films. Broccoli held back on the beating but the other two didn't.  But the beating did not kill Healey.  He eventually got up and walked away -- although when he walked away it was to the home of an old acquaintance, professional wrestler turned actor Man Mountain Dean.  Healy tried to convince Dean and another man to go back and pummel the trio who had beaten him.  Dean refused and Healy went on his way...to his death.

But how did Healy actually die and who was responsible?

An intriguing story about a Hollywood that existed behind the facade -- one that also shows Moe Howard in a positive light, far different from his on-stage persona.

Is it worth checking out?  You bet it is.

And here's a bit of serendipity:  In a post last night on J. Kingston Pierce's indispensable blog The Rap Sheet, Randal S. Brandt writes about "The Mystery of Dana Wilson":

http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-mystery-of-dana-wilson.html

Check it out.  

(Also note that the Collins/Clemens collection Murderlized is included in The Max Allan Collins Collection, Volume 2:  John Sand [2023], which includes the three John Sand novels and a John Sand short story.  The spy-guy Sand character is an homage to James Bond..  The universe works in mysterious ways.)