Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952)[1] was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.
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 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.
La Conga Nights (1940) as Henry I. Dibble Jr. / Faith Dibble / Hope Dibble / Charity Dibble / Prudence Dibble / Mrs. Henry I. Dibble Jr. / Henry I. Dibble Sr.
^United Press (March 13, 1952). "Hugh Herbert, Comedian, Dies; 'Woo-Woo's' Brought Fame to Actor, 66". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 47. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
^ abcdHarrison, Paul (August 31, 1936). "Can't Discard Funny Face". Xenia Daily Gazette. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 8. Retrieved September 20, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^Okuda, Ted; Watz, Edward (October 29, 2013). The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-Reel Hollywood Film Comedies, 1933-1958. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1010-8.
^[ "Romance, War, Adventure, Comedy in Week's Movies; Zaring—'He Knew Women'"]. The Indianapolis Star. p. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=10706287456. "'Different in every respect—one of the most difficult stories I have ever had to cast—a story that caught and held my interest the moment I began reading it.' Such is Hugh Herbert's description of 'He Knew Women,' the feature attraction which opens today at Zaring's Egyptian for its first city showing. 'He Knew Woman' is Hugh Herbert's first directorial effort for Radio Pictures." Retrieved August 6, 2022.
^"Hugh Herbert". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
Further readingedit
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