The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total Stooges appeared over the act's run ; Moe Howard and Larry Fine were mainstays throughout the ensemble's nearly 50-year run, while the "third stooge" was played in turn by Shemp Howard, Curly Howard, Shemp Howard again, Joe Besser, and "Curly Joe" DeRita.
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known for his gentlemanly sophisticate roles, with supporting roles by the 1950s. His acting crossed many genres including pre-Code romantic leads to noir layered roles and World War I films. He appeared as a guest star in episodes of several golden age television series, including The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour while continuing to act and produce in the theater and movies throughout the 1960s.
Ted Healy was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy that they later made famous, he had a successful stage and film career of his own and was cited as a formative influence by several later comedy stars.
Moses Harry Horwitz, better known by his stage name Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades. That group initially started out as Ted Healy and His Stooges, an act that toured the vaudeville circuit. Moe's distinctive hairstyle came about when he was a boy and cut off his curls with a pair of scissors, producing an irregular shape approximating a bowl cut.
Louis Feinberg, better known by his stage name Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges and was often called "The Middle Stooge".
Shemp Howard was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the third Stooge in The Three Stooges, a role he played when the act began in the early 1920s (1923–1932), while it was still associated with Ted Healy and known as "Ted Healy and his Stooges"; and again from 1946 until his death in 1955. During the fourteen years between his times with the Stooges, he had a successful solo career as a film comedian, including a series of shorts by himself and with partners. He reluctantly returned to the Stooges as a favor to his brother Moe and friend Larry Fine to replace his brother Curly as the third Stooge after Curly's illness.
Paul Albert "Mousie" Garner was an American actor. Garner earned his nickname by assuming the role of a shy, simpering jokester. He was one of the last actors still doing shtick from vaudeville, and has been referred to as "The Grand Old Man Of Vaudeville."
Jerome Lester Horwitz, better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He was a member of the comedy team The Three Stooges, which also featured his elder brothers Moe and Shemp Howard, as well as actor Larry Fine. In early shorts, he was billed as Curley. Curly Howard was generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges.
Soup to Nuts is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film written by cartoonist, sculptor, author, and inventor Rube Goldberg and directed by Benjamin Stoloff. It was the film debut of the original four members who would later, minus Ted Healy, go on to become known as The Three Stooges comic trio. Goldberg made a cameo appearance in the film as himself, opening letters in a restaurant. Several other comedians are also featured.
Have Rocket, Will Travel is a 1959 American science-fiction comedy film released by Columbia Pictures and starring the Three Stooges, consisting of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and new addition Joe DeRita. The film was produced to capitalize on the Three Stooges' late-1950s resurgence in popularity. The supporting cast features Anna-Lisa and Robert Colbert.
Nertsery Rhymes is a 1933 American Pre-Code musical comedy short film starring Ted Healy and His Stooges, released on July 6, 1933 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the first of five short films the comedy team made for the studio.
Beer and Pretzels is the second of five short films starring Ted Healy and His Stooges released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on August 26, 1933. A musical-comedy film, the film also featured Bonnie Bonnell, Healy's girlfriend at the time.
Bonnie Bonnell was an actress who played "straight woman" in seven early short comedies, most of which featured the Three Stooges when they worked with Ted Healy, between 1933 and 1934.
Hello Pop! is the third of five short films starring Ted Healy and His Stooges released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 16, 1933. A musical-comedy film, the film also featured the Albertina Rasch Dancers and Bonnie Bonnell. The film was considered lost until a 35mm nitrate print was discovered in Australia in January 2013. Stooges Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard were billed as "Howard, Fine and Howard."
Time Out for Rhythm is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Rudy Vallée, Ann Miller and the Three Stooges. It was based on the stage musical Show Business by Alex Ruben. Six Hits and a Miss perform, as well as Glen Gray and His Casa Loma Orchestra, and Eduardo Durant's Rhumba Band, and with eight original songs by Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn.
Plane Nuts is the fourth of five short subjects starring Ted Healy and His Stooges released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on October 14, 1933. A musical-comedy film, the short also featured Bonnie Bonnell as Healy's love interest. The Stooges were billed as "Howard, Fine and Howard."
The Big Idea is the fifth and last of five short films starring Ted Healy and His Stooges released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on May 12, 1934.
Roast-Beef and Movies is a short subject starring George Givot, Curly Howard, Bobby Callahan, and the Albertina Rasch Dancers, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) on February 10, 1934. The music is by Dimitri Tiomkin, who was married to Rasch at the time.
Stage Mother is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Charles Brabin and starring Alice Brady and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film is about a frustrated vaudeville performer who pushes her daughter into becoming a star dancer; selfishness, deceit and blackmail drive mother and daughter apart until a reconciliation at the end of the film. The screenplay was written by John Meehan and Bradford Ropes, based on the 1933 novel of the same name by Ropes.
The Three Stooges is an American biographical comedy television film about the slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges directed by James Frawley. The film was entirely shot in Sydney, Australia. It was broadcast on ABC on April 24, 2000.The film was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2012 as part of the Sony Pictures Choice Collection, while it was released on Blu-ray as part of The Three Stooges Collection on August 13, 2024.
