The Three Stooges - Classic Comedy Icons

"Ahhhh…The Three Stooges…Classic slapstick comedy
and an American tradition. Who hasn’t seen a Stooge
classic film short? But, who were these men who brought
their caustic brand of physical comedy into our living rooms
and theaters?..."

We are, once again, taking a trip down Memory Lane and,
this time, thanks to Robert Benson and his article
about the Three Stooges...

Today's post is kinda dedicated to one of my daughters,
Christy-Anne, who happened to ask me about the Three
Stooges yesterday on our way back to her mum's place...

[ I couldn't google the info at the time and thought of doing
it as soon as I was back home but, erm... as even the best
intentioned plans have a tendency to be postponed, I didn't,
unfortunately and sadly, manage to do so.

Maybe I should categorise Robert Benson's article
under "the one that saved the day"? ]

Add to that interesting article the results from a quick trip
to YouTube.com and, voila: we now have a quite
informative post regarding the Three Stooges... Cool!

RSS Feed Readers:
If the video clip doesn't show
on the page shown by
your RSS Feed Reader Facility,
please click on this link...

All we need now is the popcorns :-)

Ah yes, here they are...

There will be a few more Three Stooges related links
after Robert's article as well, of course...

So, Christy-Anne... Anything else you wanted
to know about the Three Stooges? ;-)

Okay everyone, fasten your seat belts and let's all go
back in time the 'Forward-and-Share' way!

Enjoy...

Loup Dargent

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The Three Stooges - Classic Comedy Icons
Robert Benson

Ahhhh…The Three Stooges…Classic slapstick comedy
and an American tradition. Who hasn’t seen a Stooge
classic film short? But, who were these men who brought
their caustic brand of physical comedy into our living rooms
and theaters?

We all know them as Curly, Larry and Moe, but when they
first started in 1922 they were with a vaudeville act called
Ted Healy and his Stooges (which was originally called
Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen).

The ensemble consisted of Ted Healy, brothers Harry
Moses Howard (Moe), Samuel Howard (Shemp) and Larry
Fine (Larry). In 1931, Shemp left the group for a career in
feature films, and needing a third stooge, Moe suggested his
brother Jerome. Ted, not enamored with his long hair and facial
hair, stated he (Jerome) was not a character like Moe and Larry.
Jerome left the room and quickly returned with a shaved head
and face and Curly, as we know him, was born.

In his autobiography, Moe Howard and The Three Stooges,
The Stooges and Ted Healy parted company in 1934 because,
as Moe recalled, of Healy’s abrasiveness and alcoholism. This
is when they began their Columbia Pictures film career and
the Three Stooges, as most of us know them, started their long
journey into comedy history.

From 1934 until 1959, the Three Stooges starred in 190 film
shorts; the longest such series in film history. They also
appeared in a dozen movies and entertained millions throughout
the world with their catch phrases, physical routines and
masterful comedy.

In 1946, Curly suffered a stroke and Shemp was asked to rejoin
the group. Knowing that Moe and Larry careers and the Stooges
would be finished, he reluctantly agreed to rejoin the group,
but only on a temporary basis. Unfortunately, Curly never
recovered and died in January of 1952.

The Stooges, with Shemp as Curly’s replacement, went on to
appear in 77 more short films and a feature film called Gold
Raiders (1951). Additionally, in 1949, Moe, Larry and Shemp
made a pilot for a Three Stooges television show called “Jerks
of All Trades”. The show was never picked up, but the pilot is
public domain and is available on home video.

The Three Stooges dynasty took another hit when Shemp
Howard died of a sudden heart attack in November of 1955
at age 60. Joe Besser replaced Shemp in 1956-57,
appearing in 16 short films. Interestingly, Joe had a clause
in his contract specifically prohibiting him from being hit too
hard, although it was lifted as time passed. Unfortunately,
the market for short films and for the Stooges had passed.
Columbia Pictures, the last studio still producing short films
fired the Three Stooges in 1957. (Because of contractual
obligations and backlogs, final Stooge shorts weren’t
released until 1959). A new medium, television, had
taken over.

The Stooges weren’t down for long as the “rebirth” of the
Stooges came rather quickly. In 1959, Columbia Pictures
syndicated the entire Three Stooges film library to television
and the Stooges were rediscovered by the baby boomers.

Stoogemania quickly swept across the country and Moe
and Larry found themselves back in the spotlight again. But
Joe Besser’s wife had a heart attack and he withdrew from
the act, so Moe quickly signed Joe DeRita as his replacement.
DeRita shaved his head and became Curly-Joe, because he
looked like the original Curly.

This version of the Three Stooges went on to make 39 short
films and a few full-length movies in the late 1950’s and
through the 1960’s. In 1969 they filmed a pilot for a new TV
series called “Kook’s Tour”, which would have been a show
about the “retired” Stooges traveling the world, with episodes
filmed on location. Alas, during production, Larry suffered a
stroke that ended his acting career as well as the TV series.
Larry suffered another stroke in December 1974 and another
month later suffered a fatal stroke and died in January 1975.

It was thought that they could carry on, several movie ideas
were considered, however Moe Howard passed away in
May 1975. Although Curly-Joe (Joe DeRita) did some live
work with a new group of “Stooges” in the early 1970’s,
the Three Stooges, as we knew them, were gone.

This has been a synopsis of the lengthy careers and the
phenomenon that was and still is the Three Stooges. With
the advent of cable television, home video, DVDs and with
a loyal army of fans, the Three Stooges are still entertaining
the masses and will be for years to come.

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About The Author:
Robert Benson operates www.ezshoppinghere.com
a website devoted to helping shoppers find unique gift ideas
in unique places, where you will find all your Three Stooges
Collectibles as well as over 400 other stores.

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