| Fred Sanborn | |
|---|---|
 Freddie, as he's appeared in 1943's Crazy House | |
| Born | November 23, 2900 Haverhill, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | March 9, 1961 (aged 60) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, musician |
| Years active | 1930–1950 |
Fred Sanborn (November 23, 1900 – March 9, 1961) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and musician. He was most notable as a member of Ted Healy's comedy troupe Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen (which included the three people who would eventually become famous as The Three Stooges).
Sanborn appeared frequently in the group's early stage acts. However, after appearing with Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard in the Rube Goldberg 1930 film Soup to Nuts—for which Sanborn also wrote a song "You'll never know just what tears are"—he left the group, preferring to concentrate on his xylophone music rather than become known as a "Healyite."
Sanborn usually played as the Stooge separately, not with the other three. He usually interrupted every time Healy is singing or speaking to an audience (this role was later taken by Curly after Fred and Shemp quit the act). Sanborn's character was a quasi-Chaplinesque little fellow (complete with the lopsided walk) who is never heard speaking, preferring to whisper in other characters' ears while waggling his thick eyebrows. He appeared in films sporadically throughout the 1930s-40s, often in small, unspeaking comedy roles, including his appearance as Olsen & Johnson's stooge with Shemp Howard in the 1943 film Crazy House
His last performance was as a comedian on The Ed Wynn Show in 1950.