Sidney

Since this seems to be silly day on Fodor page, I'll ask these two questions regarding the 3 Stooges. One, who is your favorite Stooge? Two, who is your least favorite Stooge? I'll go first. The underrated Larry Fine, the perfectionist of the 3 Stooges, is my favorite Stooge. My least favorite is Curly Joe, a total louse of a Stooge.

Snidely

I like silly day on Fodors. I also like Sidney, sounds alot like Snidely. My favorite Stooge is Curly. Don't confuse him with that faggot Curly Joe,who is my least favorite Stooge. How about some of you broads out there chiming in. I've always heard that broads don't like the Stooges.

Ess

Personally, I never liked the Three Stooges. I don't see why my boyfriend thinks they're so hilarious. It must be a guy thing (he loves Caddy Shack, too). I always found the Three Stooges irritating. When I was a child I thought they were frightening. Maybe it was all the konking on the head, getting poked in the eyes and such. On the other hand, I adored Jerry Lewis. Go figure.

ALF

On December 31st, there will be a 5-hour 3 Stooges Marathon on the UPN network. Starts at 8pm Eastern Time. Nyuk, Nyuk Nyuk!

JT

Curly is my favorite. It could be because my dad once let mom cut his hair and he looked like Moe. At the same time, my uncle looked a little like Larry. It was frightening Christmas to be sure.

ilisa

I never liked the Three Stooges. However, my great-aunt Sydney once dated Moe.

Roger

The 3 Stooges were the greatest of all time. Compared to them, Abbott and Costello and Laurel & Hardy eat rocks. Women don't like them because of the physcial slap stick of the 3 Stooges variety of humor. Women don't particularly go for the humor in military boot camp scenes like those in FULL METAL JACKET (the first forty minutes of the film is about the most funny film of all time) and THE BOYS IN COMPANY C. They probably don't get the sardonic humor in the excellent film BREAKER MORANT.

Ann

True. I believe that most women prefer the more intellectual humor of the Marx Brothers over the physical humor of the 3 Stooges.

Gordy

You are the first woman I've known who has liked the Marx Bros. All the Marx Bros. fans I've known have been men. Most women I've ever known have had a poor sense of humor. You know, a sense of humor on the level of Kathy Lee and Regis or those twin meatball heads, Oprah and Rosie O'Donnell.

Michele

Gordy,
Well, meet a 2nd woman who also likes the Marx Bros! AND I absolutely LOVE the 3 stooges!! Whenever one of the TV stations has a marathon of their shorts - hey, I'm THERE! I've never laughed so hard as I have at some of the stuff those guys came up with.

Oh, BTW, my favorite was the original Curly (Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk!), and my least favorite (actually hate any short he's in) was Curly Joe - the last actor to play the part.

Gus

Hands-down the funniest Stooge and most under-rated is Shemp! I know, I know, most people don't care for him--hey--give Shemp a chance! By the way, has anyone ever noticed that Michael Richards' character Kramer owes alot to Shemp--just compare their mannerisms!!!

Texan

George W. followed by Jeb then Dick.

Tony Hughes

Definitely had to be Groucho.

Ya-ya gal

-

ssssshhhhh- this will knock your socks off, guys. Another woman who likes Marx Bros. & the Three Stooges AND, and I also listen to Howard Stern.

(Don't repeat this --- I'll get kicked out of the sisterhood!)

YA-ya

Joy in virginia

Roger, FYI - one of my FAVORITE films is Breaker Morant! Saw it several times at the movies & I own the video. Also as a kid I remember my dad watching 3 Stooges with me in the afternoons, while my mom in the kitchen would yell "Why do you have to watch that mess?" I was married 6 months before my hubby & I fessed up our deepest secrets to each other - we both loved comic books AND 3 Stooges! Guess that is why we are still married 17 years later. The family that reads X-Men and Swamp Thing together stays together!

Jeannie

Now don't think I'm being sarcastic, but I can't remember which stooge is which. This is a sincere question -- can you describe them so I can get it straight in my mind? Which one is bald, which one had the black bowl type hair cut?

Ess

Jeannie, Moe had the black bowl haircut. Larry was bald with a curly fringe around his ears. Curly was totally bald. And Shemp had a sort of ear-level blunt-cut parted in the middle. I don't remember ever seeing the "other" Curly.

Snidely

The other stooge was Curly Joe Deluca. He was also bald, and over-weight, in a soft bloated kind of way. Curly Joe also had a very feminine way of talking. My guess is that he was a queer. Curly was a solid-bodied ladies man who died of a heart attack. A brilliant fall guy comedian. Does anyone else know of the other two actors who played rolls as stooges?

Lady

This is some thread. All of these challenges to women to step forward and say they love the 3 stooges. If this is some kind of initiation, I think I'll pass on this particular club.

Anyway, for the person who claims to know what "women" like, the answer is that we like all kinds of things because we are all different. I loved the first half of Full Metal Jacket. Very funny.

Michele

Snidley,
Are you asking about ALL the stooges, or just the ones who played Curly's role?

Let's see, Moe Howard and Larry Fine were both in Vaudville - in different acts. I believe Moe had a partner, originally, but when he and Larry came to California to do shorts the third party bugged out. In looking for a 3rd part, Moe went to his brother Jerome Howard who had his own comedy routine on vaudville. He was reluctant at first, but eventually was won over and came out to California. He became Curly.

While Larry and Moe were both married, Jerome never did. He became wrapped up in the Hollywood scene, and was quite the ladies man. One day Jerome suffered a stroke, and he never fully recovered. Moe and Larry had to fill the 3rd spot, and Moe called on another brother, Shemp Howard, to fill the role. Shemp was VERY resistant. He didn't feel he had any comedic talent, but eventually Moe won him over and he took up Jerome's spot. (minus the bald head and large body, of course) Shemp didn't live much longer after taking on the role, and eventually died, I THINK, of a heart attack. (Jerome had died just before Shemp did)

Moe was out of brothers, yet the Stooges were still popular, so they started auditioning for the role. An actor whose name escapes me won the role of "Curly Joe", which was to be reminicent of Curly. However, this guy had it written in his contract that he would not do the prat falls nor be subject to any of the "eye-pokes" and other pranks that made the stooges popular. He also gave the role a rather effiminate take. The Stooges eventually lost their popularity, possibly due to the obvious attempt to replace the original Curly with a guy far less talented. There were only a few shorts made with him, actually.

I believe Larry Fine died sometime in the 70s, and I believe Moe Howard died either in the 80s or 90s.

That's about all the info I have. Maybe some one else knows more than I do.