Columbia Pictures launched its short subject department in 1934 and Andy Clyde was one of the first comedy stars signed by producer Jules White. Unlike many of the Columbia short-subject comedians who indulged in broad facial and physical gestures, Clyde was subtler and more economical: his comic timing was so good that he could merely lift an eyebrow, shudder slightly, or mutter "My, my, my" for humorous effect. His work for Columbia was prolific enough that, from the mid-1940s, the studio was able to produce lower-budgeted remakes, editing older scenes into the new ones. "You Were Never Uglier" (1944), for example, was remade with the same principals in 1953 as "Hooked and Rooked". Clyde was such an audience favorite that he continued to star in Columbia shorts through 1956. He outlasted every comedian on the Columbia payroll except The Three Stooges.