After his death in 1955, actor and comedian Shemp Howard, best known as a charter member of what would become the Three Stooges, was for years the subject of fabrications perpetuated by younger brother and fellow Stooge Moe Howard in the latter's autobiography (which was published after Moe's death). Those myths have since been debunked by Burt Kearns, author of the book SHEMP!: The Biography of The Three Stooges’  Shemp Howard, The Face of Film Comedy.