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The Three Stooges Biography
Comedians
The Three Stooges were a hugely popular film comedy team of the mid-1900s. The original hit trio were Moe Howard (born Harry Horwitz, 1897-1975), his brother Curly (born Jerome Lester Horwitz, 1903-1952), and Larry Fine (born Louis Feinberg, 1902-1975). Moe was the irritable ringleader, Larry the mop-haired middleman, and Curly the nearly-bald dimwit -- although none of the characters was a mental giant. Stooge comedy consisted mainly of slapstick eye-gouging, shin-kicking, head-knocking, and the like, punctuated by Curly's signature "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk" chuckle. The group made nearly 200 comedy shorts between 1934 and 1958. The first 97 starred the original trio; after Curly suffered a stroke in 1946, he was replaced by his brother Shemp, then by Joe Besser, and finally by 'Curly Joe' De Rita. Extremely popular in their day, the Stooges gained a whole new following through TV reruns in the 1960s and '70s.
Extra credit: MGM Studios announced in 2009 that it was planning a new Three Stooges film and expected to cast Sean Penn as Larry, Benicio del Toro as Moe, and Jim Carrey as Curly. The film is to be directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, with an expected release in 2010.
Blog posts mentioning The Three Stooges:
Four Good Links
The Official Three Stooges Website
Updates on the franchise, biographies and sound files
ThreeStooges.Net
Beautifully exhaustive episode list
All Movie Guide: The Three Stooges
Recap of their career; helpful on the issue of the rotating "third stooge"
MGM Gets Its Stooges
2009 Variety report on some remarkable casting choices
Vital Stats
Birth
c. 1900
Birthplace
Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA
Death
All deceased
Best Known As
Famous nyuk-nyuk slapstick comedy trio