Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian and actor, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges. Fine was born to a Jewish family as Louis Feinberg in South Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph Feinberg (who was Russian-Jewish), and mother, Fanny Lieberman, owned a watch repair and jewelry shop. When Larry was a child he burned his arm with some acid that his father used to test whether or not gold was real: having mistaken it for a beverage, Larry had the acid bottle to his lips when his father noticed and knocked it from his hand, accidentally splashing Larry's forearm. Later, Larry received violin training to help strengthen his damaged muscles; this skill would be put to use in many of the Stooges' films. He became proficient on the instrument, and his parents wanted to send him to a European music conservatory, but the outbreak of World War I prevented this. In scenes where all three Stooges are playing fiddles, only Larry is actually playing his instrument; the others are pantomiming. To further strengthen his arm, Larry took up boxing as a teenager.