The Three Stooges was the stage name of an American comedy act of the middle 20th century, known for many short films characterized by the use of slapstick-laden violence and dialogue. Their shorts and feature films - more than 200 made between 1930 and 1970 - are continually shown worldwide, and have influenced modern comedy stars such as Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey.
All of the Stooges are Jewish by heritage except for Joe DeRita, who was of English and French-Canadian ancestry.
History
The Three Stooges began as a foil for vaudeville actor Ted Healy in 1922; he had known the Horwitz brothers since childhood, and when part of his ensemble walked out on him before a performance at the Brooklyn Prospect Theatre in New York, he contacted them and asked them to be part of his show; the new change called for them to be cast as hecklers in the audience before being brought to the stage as part of the act, which included scenes of physical, slapstick comedy.
Five children were born to New York tailor Solomon and Jennie Horwitz; three of them would take to the stage under the surname "Howard". The two who heckled Healy only to be slapped by him comprised the new act of "Ted Healy and his Stooges"; they were Samuel Horwitz (March 17, 1895 – November 23, 1955), and his brother Moses (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975). Moses went by the nickname "Moe", and Samuel was called "Shemp", partly as a result of the thick Yiddish accent of their mother. By 1925 the act was very successful, both commercially and critically, and a third man was added to the cast: Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), a man who had his own act at the time and was adept at the violin; his stage name was Larry Fine, and his part was considered more straight compared to the other two.
The four appeared in an acclaimed 1929 stage musical entitled A Night in Venice, and from there they were signed by Fox Film (which later merged with 20th Century Pictures in 1935 to form 20th Century Fox, now 20th Century Studios) to do their first motion picture, Soup to Nuts (1930). But friction existed between Shemp and Healy, which reached a climax when their fourth film was finished in 1932; Shemp left, and his role was taken over by the youngest of the Horwitz brothers, a kid with brown locks of hair and a mustache who was considered the handsomest of the family, Jerome Horwitz (October 22, 1903 – January 18, 1952); the shaving of his head for the stage led to the nickname "Curly".
After two more years and several films, it was apparent to the Stooges that Ted Healy was treating them as stooges off the stage; contracts were made to Healy's advantage, and at one point Healy prevented the signing of the Stooges to a contract with 20th Century Pictures. On March 6, 1934, the Stooges broke with Healy and a short time later signed with Columbia Pictures; their first short film without Healy premiered two months later (Women Haters[1]) and was an immediate success.
On the screen Moe was portrayed as "controlling" - in charge of the three, who would generally obey him after a hair pull, eye gouge, or a hit on the head with a large blunt object [2]. Larry was the calming influence, while Curly was a cauldron of insanity, doing a battle of wits with a plumbing system [3][4] to the same degree he would use in serving liquor [5] or fighting a clam in his soup [6].
97 shorts were made by Moe Larry, and Curly up until 1947; during this period it became evident that Curly was having health problems, exacerbated by several failed marriages. During the filming of Half-Wits' Holiday[7] he suffered a major stroke. His last appearance was a cameo in Hold That Lion (1947)[8][9], but he would not recover. Curly passed away in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel, California on January 18, 1952 at the age of 48.
By then, Shemp was back with the troupe, having had a successful career on his own, and the three would star in 76 more shorts. After the last one was made [10] Shemp would suffer a massive heart attack in a taxi in 1956; his death was thought to have ended the act as far as Moe was concerned, but he was persuaded by Columbia executives that it should continue with a new Stooge. Between 1957 and 1959 fifteen shorts were made with Moe and Larry starring with Joe Besser, a long-time friend from their Vaudeville days whose comedy act consisted of childlike behavior [11] and his catchphrase "Not Sooooo Faaaassst!" After his contract was up, he was replaced by Joe DeRita (born Joseph Wardell, who took the screen name "Curly Joe" because of his passing resemblance to Curly Howard), and the three were able to take advantage of a resurgence of the Stooges in television; feature films and commercials [12][13] were added to the act.
The Stooges gained popularity with a new generation of fans when their theatrical shorts began being syndicated on television by Columbia Pictures' TV division Screen Gems (now Sony Pictures Television) in September 1958. In 1965, Moe, Larry and Curly Joe also lent their voices to a syndicated Saturday morning cartoon series called The New Three Stooges, as well as appearing in live-action wraparound segments on that show, though that series lasted for a single season. In addition, the Stooges kept in the spotlight by making appearances on numerous talk, variety and game shows over the next few years. The last project to feature the lineup of Howard, Fine and DeRita was a pilot episode for a planned syndicated TV series called Kook's Tour, a sitcom/travelogue hybrid which was to have the Stooges traveling the world after retiring from show business, with each episode of the series filmed on location; out of a planned 39 episodes for its first season, only the pilot was completed.
During the filming of the Kook's Tour pilot, Fine suffered a major stroke on January 9, 1970 which both ended his acting career and led to the rest of the series being scrapped, while the pilot was edited and turned into a 52-minute film released for the home video market in 1973.[14] Although the classic Stooges lineup ended with Fine out of the picture due to his declining health following his stroke, Howard continued appearing on talk shows, making appearances in minor roles in feature films and doing speaking appearances at colleges, while DeRita retired from performing. After a further series of strokes, Fine died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Los Angeles on January 24, 1975 at age 72. Moe Howard died of lung cancer at age 77 on May 4, 1975 in Los Angeles. Joe Besser died of heart failure at age 80 on March 1, 1988 in North Hollywood, California. Joe DeRita, the last surviving Stooge, died of pneumonia on July 3, 1993 in Los Angeles, nine days before his 84th birthday.
The Three Stooges' legacy transcended the passings of its members over time, as their animated likenesses (voiced by celebrity impersonators) were featured in two CBS Saturday morning animated shows made by Hanna-Barbera - two episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972 (with the lineup of Moe, Larry and Curly Joe) and The Robonic Stooges (with the classic lineup of Moe, Larry and Curly), originally as a segment of The Skatebirds in 1977, then as a standalone series in 1978. A made-for-TV biographical movie, The Three Stooges, was produced by Mel Gibson and aired on ABC in 2000, and a comedic feature film, also called The Three Stooges and based on the classic 1932-1946 lineup of Moe, Larry and Curly and set in modern times, was released to theatres by 20th Century Fox in 2012. The classic Three Stooges theatrical shorts continue to air on television today, currently showing on classic TV network MeTV on Saturday nights.
Famous Quotes
- "What's the big idea?" (Larry)
- "Remind me to kill you later." (Moe)
- "Nyuck-nyuck-nyuck-nyuck!" (Curly laughing)
- "Woop-woop-woop-woop-woop-woop-woop!" (Curly acting frantic)
- "Why, soitenly!" (Curly)
- "You imbecile!" (Moe)
- "Eeb-eeb-eeb-eeb-eeb-eeb-eeb!" (Shemp reacting when startled or caught by surprise)
Filmography
Main article: Three Stooges filmography