Fred C. Sanborn (November 23, 1899 – 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 (a group which included the trio that became the famous Three Stooges).
However, after starring with Healy, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Shemp Howard in the Rube Goldberg film Soup to Nuts—for which Sanborn also wrote a song—he left the group, preferring to concentrate on his music rather than become known as a "Healyite".
He appeared in films sporadically throughout the 1930s-1940s- two with Olsen and Johnson- often in small, unspeaking comedy roles; a rare exception was his final film, the 1945 musical comedy Night Club Girl, in which he acts as an emcee and does have several lines.
[3] His wife often assisted in his show by preparing and performing off-stage gags to which he would react on stage.