The Three Stooges began in 1922 as part of a raucous vaudeville act called "Ted Healy and His Stooges" (also known as "Ted Healy and His Southern Gentlemen" and "Ted Healy and His Racketeers"). Moe Howard (born Moses Harry Horwitz) joined Healy's act in 1922, and his brother Shemp Howard (Samuel Horwitz) came aboard a few months later. After several shifts and changes in the Stooges membership, sometime between 1925 and 1928, violinist-comedian Larry Fine (Louis Feinberg) also joined the group. In the act, lead comedian Healy would attempt to sing or tell jokes while his noisy assistants would keep "interrupting" him, causing Healy to retaliate with verbal and physical abuse.