Curly Howard (born Jerome Lester Horwitz) (October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952), was one of the Three Stooges, along with brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine, although Curly was more or less the breakout character. Curly is generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges . He is well known for his high-pitched voice, chuckling laugh (commonly rendered as "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!"), and excited yell (commonly rendered as "woo-woo-woo!"), as well as numerous pantomimed "bits of business".

Family members recalled in print that Curly borrowed (and significantly exaggerated) the "woo woo" from "nervous" and soft-spoken comedian Hugh Herbert, but was otherwise an original and inspired performer. In any case, Curly's unique version of "woo-woo-woo" was firmly established by the time of the Stooges' second film Punch Drunks in 1934. According to Moe, Curly was never very good with written dialogue, and whenever he got stuck, he would improvise some visual or vocal nonsense that the directors usually kept in the finished film.

Jerome "Curly" Howard, the rotund, bald Stooge with the high voice was the most popular member of The Three Stooges. His first stage experience was as a comedic conductor for the Orville Knapp Band in 1928. Curly joined The Three Stooges in 1932, replacing his brother Shemp Howard. He made more than 100 film appearances with the team before a massive stroke on the set of Half-Wits Holiday (1947) forced him to retire. He recuperated enough to appear in Hold That Lion (1947) and hoped to eventually return to the team. But another series of strokes deteriorated his health until he died at the age of 48.