Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1885 â€" March 12, 1952) was a motion picture
comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150
plays and sketches.Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert "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 Hugh Herbert soon became a
popular movie comedian. His screen character was usually absent-minded
and flustered. 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 himself began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in
the 1940s.Herbert's earliest 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 his own 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.
comedian. He began his career in vaudeville and wrote more than 150
plays and sketches.Born in Binghamton, New York, Herbert "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 Hugh Herbert soon became a
popular movie comedian. His screen character was usually absent-minded
and flustered. 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 himself began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in
the 1940s.Herbert's earliest 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 his own 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.
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