Hugh Herbert

Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert attended Cornell University.^[2] As an actor, he "had many serious roles, and for years was seen on major vaudeville circuits as a pathetic old Hebrew."^[3]

The advent of talking pictures brought stage-trained actors to Hollywood, and Herbert soon became a popular movie comedian. His screen character was usually flustered and absent-minded. 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, Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy and Etta Candy in the Wonder Woman comic book series) copied the catchphrase as "woo woo" that Herbert even began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in the 1940s.^[3]

Herbert's early movies, like Wheeler & Woolsey's feature Hook, Line and Sinker (1930), cast him in generic comedy roles that could have been taken by any comedian. He developed a 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 Bureau of Missing Persons, Footlight Parade (both 1933), Dames, Fog Over Frisco, Fashions of 1934 (all 1934), and Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream (also 1935), a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play. He played leads in "B comedies", notably Sh! The Octopus (1937), a comedy-mystery featuring an exceptional unmasking of the culprit.^[3]

Herbert was often caricatured in Warners' Looney Tunes shorts of the 1930s/1940s, such as Speaking of the Weather (1937) and The Hardship of Miles Standish (1940). One of the minor characters in the Terrytoons short The Talking Magpies (1946) is also a recognizably 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 performances from this period is in the Olsen and Johnson comedy Hellzapoppin' (1941), in which he played a nutty detective.^{[citation needed]}

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. Commenting on these two-reel films, The Columbia Comedy Shorts notes for example that "Who's Hugh? (1943), His Hotel Sweet (1944), A Knight and a Blonde (1944) and Woo, Woo! (1945) are alarmingly similar in content; viewing them together, it's nearly impossible to detect" any difference.^[4] He continued to star in these comedies for the remainder of his life.

Herbert wrote six screenplays, co-wrote the screenplays for the films Lights of New York (1928) and Second Wife (1930), and contributed to The Great Gabbo (1929) and others. He acted in three 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).^[5]

Herbert has a star at 6251 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.^[6]

Herbert was married to Rose Epstein, who was also known by the name Anita Pam.^[3]

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

• 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)

• He Knew Women (1930)

• Anthony, Walter (February 4, 1912). "The Melting Pot in vaudeville". The San Francisco Call. p. 47
• "Hugh Herbert, Who Plays Aged Jew, Is Scotchman and Only 29; Actor at Orpheum Finds Hebrew Character Most Effective on Modern Stage". The Des Moines Register. April 23, 1915. p. 5

• Hugh Herbert at IMDb
• Hugh Herbert at the Internet Broadway Database  
• Hugh Herbert at Find a Grave