The Ted Healy years (1930-1934)
Before becoming "The Three Stooges," the trio was part of a Vaudeville act with entertainer Ted Healy. Healy and the Stooges starred in a feature film for Fox and five shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.Shemp left the Stooges after Soup to Nuts and was replaced by Jerome "Curly" Howard.
- Nertsery Rhymes
- Beer and Pretzels
- Hello Pop!
- Plane Nuts
- Meet the Baron
- The Big Idea
- Hollywood Party
The Curly years (1934-47)
When Columbia offered them a contract to appear in theatrical shorts, The Stooges parted ways with Ted Healy and became their own act. This was the time they started officially going as "The Three Stooges."The Shemp years (1947-56)
Shemp returned to the Stooges as a temporary replacement for Curly. Once it was realized that Curly wasn't going to recover, Shemp permanently rejoined the Stooges so Moe and Larry's careers could continue.After the filming of "Flagpole Jitters," ("For Crimin' Out Loud" was filmed earlier, but released later) 60-year-old Shemp abruptly died of a heart attack while on his way back from a boxing tournament on November 22, 1955. However, Columbia has promised exhibitors eight Stooge shorts for 1956. Therefore, the last four shorts of the year were remakes of Shemp-era shorts and mostly contained recycled footage; any new footage had supporting actor Joe Palma as Shemp, almost always from the back.
The Joe years (1957-59)
After Shemp's death, Moe considered disbanding the Stooges, but Columbia still had them under contract. They picked Joe Besser as the new third Stooge, and the shorts continued. However, by the end of the year, the market for theatrical shorts had dried up, so Columbia let their contract expire and later fired the Stooges. Columbia would release the last of the Stooge shorts over the next two years, though not in the order they were produced in.The Curly Joe years (1959-70)
In the interim after Columbia Pictures ended their contract with the Stooges, Joe Besser's wife suffered a heart attack, causing Besser to withdraw from the act. In the meantime, Columbia's TV Division, Screen Gems, released their backlog of Stooge shorts to television, which generated demand for the Stooges. Joe DeRita was recruited as the new and final "third stooge" and, playing off his resemblance to Curly, shaved his head and went by the name "Curly Joe."note "Larry, Moe and Curly Joe," as they came to be called, made a number of feature-length films, as well as a short-lived animated series. This was the last incarnation of the original Three Stooges.- Have Rocket Will Travel
- The Three Stooges Scrapbook
- Snow White and the Three Stooges
- The Three Stooges Meet Hercules
- The Three Stooges In Orbit
- The Three Stooges Go Around The World In A Daze
- The Outlaws IS Coming!
- The New 3 Stooges
- Kook's Tour
In 1970, Larry Fine suffered a stroke during the filming of the pilot for Kook's Tour, and had to retire. He would later die of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 24, 1975. There were plans to replace him with longtime costar Emil Sitka, who was to portray Larry's "brother" Harry; but unfortunately, Moe Howard was diagnosed with lung cancer and later passed away on May 4, 1975, not long after Larry’s death. "Curly Joe" DeRita tried to continue the act by recruiting other actors and going on tour as "The New Three Stooges," but the act failed to catch on and DeRita retired, bringing the original Three Stooges act to an end.
Supporting roles and cameos (1933-1968)
- Turn Back the Clock
- Broadway to Hollywood (Neither Larry nor Ted Healy appear)
- Meet the Baron (with Ted Healy)
- Dancing Lady
- Myrt and Marge
- Fugitive Lovers
- Jailbirds of Paradise
- Hollywood Party (with Ted Healy)
- The Captain Hates the Sea
- Start Cheering
- Time Out for Rhythm
- My Sister Eileen (1942 film version)
- Rockin' in the Rockies (1945 hour-long film starring the Three Stooges, not to be confused with their 1940 short subject of the same name)
- Swing Parade of 1946
- Gold Raiders (with Shemp Howard)
- Stop! Look! And Laugh!
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (with Curly Joe DeRita)
- 4 for Texas (with Curly Joe DeRita)
- Star Spangled Salesman (with Curly Joe DeRita)
