Summary
- The Stooges' constant cast turnover reveals personal issues and health problems that affected many of the performers.
- Moe Howard was the leader of the Stooges both on and off screen, and was committed to the group until his passing in 1975.
- Curly's shaven head and distinctive comedy style made him a fan favorite, but his declining health led to a shortened career and untimely death at the age of 48.
The Three Stooges are one of the most influential comedy groups in history, but their confusing membership calls for some clarification. The trio existed, in one form or another, for nearly 50 years. The need to keep earning money was partly influenced by the treacherous business practices of Columbia Pictures, who kept the performers on a fixed salary, keeping the massive profits from the shorts and never telling the Stooges just how popular they had become throughout their 24-year tenure at the studio.
Across hundreds of shorts, the Stooges occupy a wide variety of jobs before their trademark bickering and incompetence causes them to descend into violent slapstick chaos. Together, the Stooges changed the face of American comedy, and their fingerprints can be found on some of the greatest comedy movies ever made. Nevertheless, the constant cast turnover within the Three Stooges tells a sad story of personal issues and health problems for many of the legendary performers.
1 Moe Howard
The Ringleader
Instantly recognized by his signature bowl cut, Moe Howard was a consistent member of the Three Stooges for the entirety of the group’s existence. It was Moe, along with his brother Shemp Howard, and fellow performer Larry Fine, who formed the original lineup as supporting characters to comedian Ted Healy in his act, “Ted Healy and his Stooges,” in 1929. After separating from Healy in 1934, the Stooges - whose lineup now consisted of Moe, Larry, and Curly - signed a contract with Columbia Pictures as the Three Stooges, with Moe acting as business manager and de facto leader.
Moe’s leadership role extended into his fictional persona. In the Three Stooges shorts, Moe is the aggressive and domineering leader of the trio. His short temper often brings him into exasperation with his incompetent pals, pushing him to bouts of slapstick violence. The actor was committed to the group; his solo work rarely extended beyond walk-on roles and cameos. When the trio’s advancing ages kept them from performing their physically demanding routines, Moe set out to make a documentary series, Kook’s Tour, about the Stooges meeting fans across the country. Unfortunately, the trip was cut short after Larry Fine suffered a stroke. Moe passed in 1975, just three months after Fine.
2 Larry Fine
The Middle Stooge
Larry Fine, known as “the middle Stooge,” sported a shock of frizzy auburn hair, sprouting from a point far back on his balding head. Originally a vaudeville violinist, Larry Fine met Moe and Shemp Howard in 1929, after Ted Healy drafted him into the act. Like Moe, he stayed with the group for the rest of his performing career. In the years of the Moe, Larry, and Curly lineup, Larry rarely initiated the hitting, generally acting as a reactive foil to the bossy Moe and the childish Curly. When Shemp Howard took Curly’s place, Larry was given a larger role.
The agreeable Fine was not wise with his Three Stooges money. On top of an extremely active social life alongside his wife, vaudeville performer Mabel Haney, Howard gambled away large sums at the racetrack and on card games, and freely gave money to fellow actors who claimed to need help. Following the end of the Stooges’ contract with Columbia, Fine came close to bankruptcy, but the profits from live shows kept him afloat. Following a debilitating stroke in 1970, Fine moved into a retirement home in Hollywood, where he regularly hosted Stooges fans before eventually passing away in 1975.
3 Curly Howard
The Silliest Member of the Stooges
After Shemp Howard decided to leave the Ted Healy act, he recommended that his brother Curly be brought in as a replacement. In order to impress Healy during the audition, Curly left the room, only to return a few moments later with his head completely shaved. Curly was added to the group, and the look stuck. Unlike his brothers and Larry Fine, Curly was not trained in vaudeville, resulting in a raw and distinctive comedy style that quickly made him a favorite among the Three Stooges.
Curly’s on-screen persona was characterized by an “indestructible head,” childish mannerisms, and a wide variety of signature expressions, including “nyuk nyuk nyuk” and “soitenly!” Yet behind the scenes of the Three Stooges, Curly lived a troubled life. Insecurity about his shaven head contributed to habits of excessive drinking and eating, which had a catastrophic effect on his health. The decline in Curly’s well-being is extremely noticeable in his later Three Stooges shorts, and his career was cut short by a severe stroke in 1946. Following numerous further strokes, Curly died in 1952 at the age of 48.
4 Shemp Howard
Moe and Curly's Brother
The oldest of the Howard brothers, Shemp Howard began performing on the vaudeville circuit at a young age alongside his brother, Moe. Forming the original lineup of Ted Healy and his Stooges alongside Moe and Larry, Shemp soon grew tired of Healy, who was allegedly a heavy drinker who acted abrasively behind the scenes. In 1932, Shemp left the act in pursuit of a solo career. He went to Brooklyn’s Vitaphone studios, where he made comedy shorts until 1937. He then went to Hollywood, finding considerable success as a supporting comic actor, appearing in film series such as Abbot and Costello, The Thin Man, and Charlie Chan.
Following Curly’s stroke in 1946, Moe Howard asked Shemp to replace Curly in the Three Stooges. Shemp was content with his thriving solo career, but he knew that Moe and Larry would be out of work if he refused. Initially, Shemp was pushed to replicate Curly’s on-screen persona, but over time, he was allowed to develop his own Three Stooges character with a more relaxed energy. Shemp remained with the Stooges for several years, appearing in dozens of Columbia shorts as well as the Stooges’ first live television performances. In 1955, he suffered a sudden heart attack and died at the age of 60.
5 Joe Besser
Shemp's Replacement
Following the passing of Shemp, Columbia forced Moe Howard to recruit a replacement Stooge from the studio’s contract players in order to fulfill the group’s contract. Comedian Joe Besser was chosen, although his tenure is not considered a bright spot for the Stooges. Besser stipulated in his contract that he suffer no more than an infrequent tap from the other Stooges, resulting in shorts that lacked the violent dynamism of earlier outings. After the contract with Columbia ended, Besser parted ways with the Stooges. He saw a fairly successful career as a comedian, actor, and voice actor, appearing in such series as Batman, The Joey Bishop Show, and The Houndcats.
6 Curly Joe DeRita
The Three Stooges' Curly Lookalike
Following the end of their contract with Columbia, Moe and Larry were now free to pick their own preferred replacement Stooge. They landed on Joe DeRita, a comedy burlesque performer who had found success with his own Columbia shorts in the 1940s. DeRita shaved his head to look more like Curly, earning him the moniker "Curly Joe". The new lineup made appearances on live television, starred in feature films, and voiced themselves in a new series of animated shorts. Following Larry Fine’s stroke and subsequent retirement, the Three Stooges ceased performing. The last surviving Three Stooges performer, DeRita passed away in 1993 at age 83.
