Mousie Garner
| Paul "Mousie" Garner | |
|---|---|
| Born | )July 31, 1909 Washington, D.C., USA[1] |
| Died | August 8, 2004) (aged 95)[2] Glendale, California, USA |
Paul "Mousie" Garner (July 31, 1909 – August 8, 2004) was an American actor. Garner earned his nickname by assuming the role of a shy, simpering jokester.[2] Garner was one of the last actors still doing schtick from vaudeville,[2] and has been referred to as "The Grand Old Man Of Vaudeville."[2]
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Career
Garner was one of over 20 comedians who worked as part of Ted Healy's stooge act with his cousin, Jack Wolf (father of Warner Wolf) and Richard Hakins between 1922 and 1936.[1] Although he was never a member of the act at the same time as Larry Fine, Moe Howard, Curly Howard or Shemp Howard, he did cross paths with the Three Stooges on several occasions and would later join the New Three Stooges in the 1970s (with official Stooge Joe DeRita). He also worked with Spike Jones and His City Slickers.[1] In the early 1960s, he was a character actor on 77 Sunset Strip, I Dream of Jeannie, Surfside Six and The Monkees.
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. 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. Mousie also played a zany cameraman in David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigolo" music video.
More recently, he 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.
Death
After suffering from kidney problems, Garner died quietly on August 8, 2004 at age 95. He was the last major celebrity associated with Ted Healy and Three Stooges to die.