Despite Curly’s three short-lived marriages, most of the Three Stooges actors lead long, happily married lives. Joe Besser was married to Erna Kay for 56 years, Moe Howard to Helen Schonberger—cousin of the late Harry Houdini—for fifty years, Larry Fine, for forty-one loving years, with wife Mable, Shemp for close to 30 years, and Joe DeRita for 30 happy years to wife Bonnie Brooks; a marriage which lasted up until her passing.
Following her death, he went on to marry Jean Sullivan DeRita in 1966. The couple was married for 25 years, up until Joe’s death on July 3, 1993.
In The Name Of Science Or Comedy?
Over the years, there has been much debate regarding whether or not Jerome Horwitz Elementary School—the school attended by the main characters of the widely loved children book, “Captain Underpants”—was named after Jerome Horwitz, the famed scientist, or Jerome ‘Curly Howard’ Horwitz, the birth name of the popular Stooge.
However, the truth is revealed within the very pages of the book itself. Upon reading the ‘Fun Facts’ section of “The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Captain Underpants #1),” one will readily discover ‘Fun Fact #4,’ which gives the answer to the mystery behind the school’s name: “Jerome Horwitz Elementary School was named after “Curly,” one of the Three Stooges (another show Dav Pilkey watched every day as a child). Curly’s real name was Jerome Horwitz.”
Here Come The Men in Black
Though they are long gone, in addition to the original Stooge arcade game, The Three Stooges continue to live on in the form of several other, newer video games. Names of more recent Stooge games include “Dead Space” and “Batman: Arkham Asylum.”
In these games, players can hear the line “Paging Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard.” This is a subtle nod to “Men in Black,” the Academy-Award nominated, widely recognized Three Stooges short.
Hitler vs. The Stooges: Making Hitler’s Death List
In addition to their success as comedians, the Stooges also doubled as political, social activists, ultimately shaping the outcome of the political and social environment of the US. Despite Adolf Hitler’s powerful influence over Hollywood executives and movie makers in the 1930s, which led to the censorship of much of the US cinema released at this point in time, the Stooges were not impacted by this dictator’s foreboding presence. Despite the Nazi’s efforts, The Stooges remained true to their movies, and became the very first in cinematic history to defy Hitler.
Following the January 1940 release of the Three Stooges short, two-reeler film, “You Nazi Spy!” which satirized Hitler and the Third Reich, the Three Stooges unintentionally made history as the first US production to openly mock the regime of the German dictator and his fascist regime. Released a whole year before the United States officially entered World War II, the overwhelming popularity of these comedians eventually lead Hitler to add them to his own personal death list. To this day, this Stooges film is still noted as a key piece in presenting the threat of Nazis to United States' citizens.
The Origins of Slapstick
Though many are aware of The Three Stooges’ specific style of comedy, known as ‘slapstick comedy,’ few are aware of the true origins of this term. Fitting to this infamously violent form of comedy, the name origins of slapstick comedy can be traced back to a wooden paddle made up of two pieces of wood. When slapped together, this wooden object would create a noise made to sound as if the paddle were striking someone.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, this form of comedy was named after a small wooden device, used by actors back in the day to imitate the sound of an exaggerated slapping noise. This noise was recreated by striking the parts of the wooden device together. The first recorded use of the slapstick dates back to the Harlequin of 16th century Italian theater. Considered a key character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, the Harlequin would slap the wooden instrument on the posteriors of his victims.