The creator of the THREE STOOGES was born in Kaufman, TX.  See the biography of "Ted Healy" (Charles Earnest Lee Nash) page at www.StoogeWorld.com http://www.stoogeworld.com/_Biographies/Healy.htm
(Thanks to Kaufman City Councilman, Hector Torres for bringing this link to our attention.)

The actual death certificate for Charles Ernest Lee Nash, filed in Los Angeles, CA, states that Ernest Lee Nash, also known as Ted Healy, was born in Houston, Texas and that his father, Charles Ernest Nash, was born in Kaufman, TX.  See the information obtained from a copy of the Death Certificate.

Upon obtaining the copy of the death certificate and after a futile search for the family in the Kaufman County census records, Allen was disappointed to find that he was not born in Kaufman.  However, Kathey Hunt did find his birth record in the Birth Record Books which proves he was born in Kaufman.

Allen states, "There is little known about his personal life.  His murder was covered up and I guess what little there was has been misinterpreted down the years.  He was, by all accounts though, a gifted actor and deserves all the credit due him.  Ted's sister was also an actress and was in several stooges movies."

Additional information
Researched by Abby Balderama

Charles Earnest Lee Nash was born Oct. 1, 1896, the son of Charles Nash and his wife, Mary Eugenia, whom he had married about 1889.  Charles Nash is said to have been a hotel man and cattle dealer of Houston, TX; the 1900 census reveals Charles Nash was a professional gambler.  Mary Eugenia was born in Oneida, Carroll County, OH; she was an actress.

In 1910, Ernest Nash, then 13 years old, was living in Manhattan with his widowed mother and his 15-year-old sister, Elizabeth; Lillian White, a stage actress, also lived with them.  Charles Earnest Lee Nash began his vaudeville career in 1912.  Later he took the stage name "Ted Healy".  The Three Stooges began in vaudeville in 1923 as "Ted Healy and His Racketeers" and "Ted Healy and His Stooges".

Ted Healy was first married, in 1922, to Betty Braun, a vaudeville dancer (she lived in Queens, NYC, NY in 1920); they had no children.  In 1932, they moved to California and were divorced.

Ted Healy and Alma Elizabeth "Betty" Hickman, a 21-year-old college student of UCLA, eloped on May 15, 1936 to Yuma, AZ where they were married by Superior Judge Kelly.  They lived in Beverly Hills.  After only a few months as a married couple, they were separated August 28, 1936 and subsequently began proceedings for divorce.  Betty signed a property settlement and waived alimony, attorney's fees and court costs.

Betty (Hickman) Healy gave birth to an eleven-pound son on Friday at University Hospital in Culver City.  Ted Healy was in a brawl at the Trocadero in the early morning hours the following Monday; after the brawl, he had a cut over his eye sutured shut, went home and suffered a 24-hour attack of nauseau.  Tuesday morning he visited Betty (Hickman) in the hospital and told her about the positive review his last film, "Hollywood Hotel" had gotten the night before.

Before leaving the hospital, he reported to the attendants that he was having pain around his heart.  He returned to his home in Westwood and at 11:30 that morning, December 21, 1937, was pronounced dead.  His sister, Marcia Healy, was among those with him when he passed away.  There was a question regarding the circumstances surrounding his death as the coroner found a red streak across his left temple, a deep cut above left eye and red bruises on the left eyelid which he had received during the brawl as well as evidence of acute toxic nephritis.  The coroner ruled the death was due to natural causes, namely acute toxic nephritis which was the result of acute and chronic alcoholism.  Ted Healy's first wife, Betty (Braun) asked for further investigation into his death; Ted Healy's second wife, Betty (Hickman) declined and there was no further investigation.

Ted Healy's obituary was published in the Los Angeles Times, Dec. 24, 1937 (p. A2).  Among other things, the obituary states, "Father O'Donnell read the ritual over Healy's body and he was laid to rest beside his mother in Calvary Cemetery."  Betty (Hickman) Nash was still in the hospital so she wasn't able to attend his funeral at St. Augustine's Church in Culver City; however, Betty (Braun) Nash Healy and the three original Healy "Stooges", Dick Hakins, Sam Wolfe and Paul Garner, were present.

Gravestones in the New Calvary Catholic Cemetery

Ted Healy's gravestone
Plot:  Section F (near the All Souls Chapel), Lot 1693, Grave 14


Mary Eugenia and Marcia Healy's gravestone


Ted Healy's gravestone followed by Mary Eugenia and Marcia Healy's shared gravestone

1900 TX, Harris County, Houston City, Ward 4th, Precinct No. 1
4-5 June 1900
SD 11, ED 68, Sheet 4A, "89"
805 1/2 Prairie Ave.
Franklin C. Hodgetts, Enumerator
NASH, Chas., Lodger, W, M, Oct. 1864, 36, Married 11 yrs., TX, TX, TX, Gambler, 0, yyy
...
NASH, Eugenie, Lodger, W, F, Sept. 1865, 34, Married 11 yrs., 2 children 2 living, OH, Ireland, PA, Actress - Variety, 0, yyy
...

1910 NY, New York County, Borough of Manhattan, NYC, Ward 20
SD 1 ED 1192
Sheet No. 3B
Edward Alexander, Enumerator
16 April 1910
65
NASH, Eugene, Head, F, W, 40, Wd., 15, 2 2living, TX, OH, OH, English Dertematoyist?, OE, yy, RH
WHITE, Lillian, Lodger, F, W, 38, M 10, --, NY, VT, VT, English, Actress Stage, ?, yy
KENNEDY, Nellie, Servant, F, W, 65, Wd 40, 3 0living, NY, Ireland, Ireland, English, Housekeeper Family, W, yy
NASH, Elizabeth, Daughter, F, W, 15, S, TX, OH, TX, English, none, yyy
Ernest, Son, M, W, 13, S, TX, OH, TX, English, none, yyy

1936 Los Angeles City Directory
NASH, Alma E clk Am Natl Ins Co rSouth Gate

Sources:

• Los Angeles Times May 16, 1936, Oct. 4, 1936, Dec. 22, 1937, Dec. 23, 1937, Dec. 24, 1937, Dec. 26, 1937, Dec. 29, 1937, Jan. 24, 1938
• 1900 Houston, TX census and 1910 Manhattan, NYC, NY census
• New Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA
• Ted Healy's death certificate
• Who was Who on Screen, 3rd Edition, by Evelyn Mack Truitt, RR Bowker Co., NY & London, 1983.
• Find a Grave: Ted Healy
• Wikipedia: Ted Healy (gives his name as Clarence Earnest Lee Nash)