Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 – March 12, 1952)Hugh Herbert - L.A. Times Hollywood Star Walk was an American motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. 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).[ "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.

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

Personal life Herbert was married to Rose Epstein, who was also known by the name Anita Pam.

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

Selected filmography

Husbands for Rent (1927) as Valet Caught in the Fog (1928) as Detective Riley Mind Your Business (1928, short) Danger Lights (1930) as Professor – the Hobo Hook, Line and Sinker (1930) as Hotel House Detective She Went for a Tramp (1931, short) Laugh and Get Rich (1931) as Joe Austin The Sin Ship (1931) as Charlie Traveling Husbands (1931) as Hymie Schwartz Friends and Lovers (1931) as McNellis The Lost Squadron (1932) as Fritz Million Dollar Legs (1932) as Secretary of the Treasury Faithless (1932) as Mr. Peter M. Blainey Sham Poo, the Magician (1932, short) as Sham Poo Strictly Personal (1933) as Wetzel Diplomaniacs (1933) as Chinaman She Had to Say Yes (1933) as Luther Haines Goodbye Again (1933) as Harvey Wilson Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) as Hank Slade Footlight Parade (1933) as Bowers Tis Spring (1933, short) College Coach (1933) as J-Marvin Barnett From Headquarters (1933) as Manny Wales Convention City (1933) as Hotstetter Easy to Love (1934) as Detective Fashions of 1934 (1934) as Joe Ward Wonder Bar (1934) as Pratt Harold Teen (1934) as Ed Rathburn Merry Wives of Reno (1934) as Colonel Fitch The Merry Frinks (1934) as Joe 'Poppa' Frink Fog Over Frisco (1934) as Izzy Wright Dames (1934) as Ezra Ounce Kansas City Princess (1934) as Junior Ashcraft Good Badminton (1935, short) as Hugh Sweet Adeline (1935) as Rupert Rockingham Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) as T. Mosley Thorpe Traveling Saleslady (1935) as Elmer We're in the Money (1935) as Lawyer Homer Bronson A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Snout, the Tinker To Beat the Band (1935) as Hugo Twist / Elizabeth Twist Miss Pacific Fleet (1935) as Mr. J. August Freytag Colleen (1936) as Cedric Ames One Rainy Afternoon (1936) as Toto We Went to College (1936) as Professor Standish Love Begins at Twenty (1936) as Horatio Gillingwater Sing Me a Love Song (1936) as Siegfried Hammerschlag Top of the Town (1937) as Hubert That Man's Here Again (1937) as Thomas J. Jesse A Day at Santa Anita (1937, short) as Himself (uncredited) The Singing Marine (1937) as Aeneas Phinney / Clarissa Marry the Girl (1937) as John B. Radway The Perfect Specimen (1937) as Killigrew Shaw Sh! The Octopus (1937) as Kelly Hollywood Hotel (1937) as Chester Marshall Gold Diggers in Paris (1938) as Maurice Giraud Men Are Such Fools (1938) as Harvey Bates Four's a Crowd (1938) as Jenkins The Great Waltz (1938) as Hofbauer The Family Next Door (1939) as George Pierce The Lady's from Kentucky (1939) as Mousey Johnson Eternally Yours (1939) as Benton Little Accident (1939) as Herbert Pearson 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. Private Affairs (1940) as Angus McPherson A Little Bit of Heaven (1940) as Pop Loring The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940) as Frederick Healy Hit Parade of 1941 (1940) as Ferdinand Farraday Slightly Tempted (1940) as Professor Ross Meet the Chump (1941) as Hugh Mansfield The Black Cat (1941) as Mr. Penny Hello, Sucker (1941) as Hubert Worthington Clippe Badlands of Dakota (1941) as Rocky Plummer Hellzapoppin' (1941) as Quimby Don't Get Personal (1942) as Elmer Whippet / Oscar Whippet You're Telling Me (1942) as Hubert Abercrombie Gumm There's One Born Every Minute (1942) as Lemuel P. Twine / Abner Twine / Colonel Cladius Zebediah Twine Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942) as Marcus Throckmorton It's a Great Life (1943) as Timothy Brewster Stage Door Canteen (1943) as Himself Pitchin' in the Kitchen (1943, short) as Adam Spiggott Who's Hugh? (1943, short) as Himself Oh, Baby! (1944, short) as Elmer 'Picklepuss' Burns His Hotel Sweet (1944, short) as Himself Kismet (1944) as Feisal Ever Since Venus (1944) as P.G. Grimble A Knight and a Blonde (1944, short) as Himself Music for Millions (1944) as Uncle Ferdinand Woo, Woo! (1945, short) Wife Decoy (1945, short) as Hughie Hawkins The Mayor's Husband (1945, short) as Himself One Way to Love (1946) as Eustace P. Trumble When the Wife's Away (1946, short) as Himself Get Along Little Zombie (1946, short) as Himself Honeymoon Blues (1946, short) as Himself Hot Heir (1947, short) as Himself Nervous Shakedown (1947, short) as Mr. Penn Blondie in the Dough (1947) as Llewellyn Simmons Should Husbands Marry? (1947, short) as Himself On Our Merry Way (1948) as Eli Hobbs Tall, Dark and Gruesome (1948, short) as Hugh Sherlock, playwright So This Is New York (1948) as Mr. Lucius Trumball One Touch of Venus (1948) as Mercury (scenes deleted) The Girl from Manhattan (1948) as Aaron Goss A Song Is Born (1948) as Professor Twingle A Pinch in Time (1948, short) as Himself Trapped by a Blonde (1949, short) as Himself The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949) as Doctor Super Wolf (1949, short) as Aunt Fanny / Dave McGurk alias Dave the Drip One Shivery Night (1950, short) as Himself A Slip and a Miss (1950, short) sa Himself Woo-Woo Blues (1951, short) as Himself Havana Rose (1951) as Filbert Fillmore Trouble In-Laws (1951, short) as Himself The Gink in the Sink (1952, short) as Himself

As writer 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)

As director He Knew Women (1930)

References

Further reading 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

External links