What Happened To Curly? Why The Three Stooges Replaced Him With Shemp

The Three Stooges boast a legacy as one of the most influential comedy acts ever, but the changes to their lineup breed some confusion. It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Three Stooges to American comedy. Over the years, the trio put out hundreds of comedy shorts in which they occupy a variety of jobs, before causing the situation to descend into chaos with their trademark slapstick violence. The group’s legacy is decades worth of some of the best comedy movies, short films, TV appearances, and even a controversial remake from the Farrelly brothers.

The funniest Three Stooges shorts mostly featured the main lineup that comes from the trio’s years of peak popularity from 1934 to 1946. This period, in which the lineup consisted of Moe, Curly, and Larry, came to be known as the Curly years, in order to differentiate it from the years in which Curly was replaced with his brother Shemp, who was in turn replaced with comedian Joe Besser. The behind-the-scenes story of the Three Stooges’ constant cast turnover is a tragic one, counterpointing the lighthearted life the Stooges played out on screen.

Shemp Was Part Of The Three Stooges Act Before They Became Famous

There Were Two Shemp Howard Three Stooges Eras

While the classic Three Stooges lineup is composed of Moe, Curly, and Larry, the Stooges had a different makeup for the majority of their pre-fame career. The Stooges first formed in 1922, when brothers Moe and Shemp Howard, a comedy double act, were recruited alongside another comedian, Larry Fine, to be the sidekicks of a rising vaudeville star named Ted Healy. Their act, “Ted Healy and His Stooges”, saw Healy perform as the comedic straight-man to the antics of Moe, Shemp, and Larry. Ted Healy was a massively successful entertainer, but his legacy in cultural history is that of the Three Stooges’ terrible boss.

Not only was Healy exploitative and jealous of the Three Stooges, who were quickly beginning to upstage him, but he was also a heavy drinker prone to bouts of extreme violence. In 1932, Shemp Howard, increasingly frightened of Healy’s outbursts, decided to quit the group and forge a solo career. He soon found success as a film comedy actor, working with New York’s Vitaphone studio. He proposed to fill the gap in the Stooges’ lineup with his and Moe’s other brother, Jerry “Curly” Howard. Despite Moe’s claim that Curly had “no talent whatsoever” (via Empire), Curly was allowed to join the trio. Shortly after, the Stooges split from Healy for good.

Why Shemp Took Curly’s Place In The Three Stooges

Shemp Replaced Curly After A Stroke

After breaking with Healy, the trio of Moe, Curly, and Larry, now officially called “The Three Stooges”, signed a contract with Columbia Pictures. Many of the Three Stooges’ funniest shorts were filmed with Columbia, and the trio was soon launched into stardom. It was Curly, with his natural comedy chops, undiluted by the years of vaudeville experience boasted by Moe and Larry, who emerged as the most popular of the Stooges. However, Curly also became the most unruly, with a wild lifestyle defined by heavy eating and drinking, which caused his blood pressure to skyrocket. In 1946, during the filming of the short Half-Wits Holiday, Curly suffered a debilitating stroke.

With Curly not well enough to perform, Moe Howard asked his brother Shemp to fill the gap. Shemp was enjoying a successful solo career and was reluctant to rejoin the Stooges. However, he realized that not doing so would mean the end of Moe and Larry’s film careers, so he agreed to fill in until Curly was able to return. Unfortunately, Curly’s health only deteriorated; he was never able to return to the Stooges and passed away after additional strokes caused a cerebral hemorrhage in 1952. Shemp stayed on with the Stooges for years, appearing in 76 comedy shorts, although the Curly period is considered the golden age.

Shemp Was Replaced With Joe Besser After His Death In 1955

The Final Era For The Stooges Was As A Live Act

Unfortunately, Shemp Howard’s passing came shortly after his brother Curly’s. In 1955, following Shemp Howard’s fatal heart attack, Moe considered disbanding the Stooges. However, Columbia pressed him to hire a third Stooge from Columbia’s contracted players. They found comedian Joe Besser, who went on to star in the final 16 Columbia shorts. This era is considered a particularly weak one for the Stooges. While Besser’s insistence that he not suffer any blows harder than a light tap certainly diluted the slapstick humor, the blame can’t be placed entirely on his shoulders.

The market for short films was shrinking, and the films were being made more quickly and with less money. The plots were recycled, and the two original Stooges, now past their prime, were less capable of enacting the dynamic violence that had become the films’ trademark. In 1957, the Stooges were unceremoniously fired from Columbia Pictures. However, Moe and Larry, no longer under obligation to Columbia’s Besser, found a more suitable replacement with Joe DeRita. The Three Stooges continued to see success with television and feature films and even became the most highly paid live act in North America throughout the 1960s.

Were The Three Stooges At Their Best With Curly Or Shemp?

The Debate Has An Almost Universally Agreed Upon Answer

The lineups with Curly and Shemp represent distinct eras for The Three Stooges, and there continues to be debate around which was the better lineup for the classic vaudeville slapstick comedy trio. While Moe Howard and Larry Fine provided a solid and consistent foundation throughout the decades The Three Stooges were active, the dynamic was notably different depending on whether the third member was Curly or Shemp Howard.

While the answer is ultimately subjective (and likely different in the modern era compared to contemporary opinions), most fans of The Three Stooges consider Curly to be the definitive third member of the trio. This is not to Shemp’s detriment, either, and it’s always acknowledged to be a close contest. What’s more, there’s little debate around the fact that there were areas where Shemp was definitely the stronger talent, despite Curly being considered the better third stooge in The Three Stooges.

Shemp Howard had an incredibly successful acting career in his own right outside his time with The Three Stooges. He was known for his work outside of comedy too, such as his performance as a blackmailer and aspiring murderer in 1935’s Convention Girl. There’s no denying that Shemp was highly regarded in his own right, something that Curly could never claim. Shemp Howard’s skills as an actor are near-universally acknowledged by fans of The Three Stooges in the present day, and while Curly is still considered part of the best lineup for the trio, Shemp is regarded as the better actor overall.

However, despite the considerable talents of Shemp Howard as a performer, it was the dynamic of the trio when it was his brother Curly performing alongside the third Howard brother, Moe, and Larry Fine that many consider as the “golden era” of the Three Stooges. As popular as Shemp Howard was as part of the slapstick comedy act, it was the energetic performance of Curly that many consider the highlight of the best Three Stooges Movies.

Shemp had a notably laid-back performance compared to his late brother. Movies like 1938’s We Want Our Mummy, 1940’s A Plumbing We Will Go, and 1943’s They Stooge to Conga are considered by many fans to be the absolute highpoints. It was due to Curly Howard that these movies were so funny too, especially when it came to his skills in prop comedy (something Shemp couldn’t match and, to his credit, never really tried to – he added his own flare to the trio rather than simply trying to be the new Curly).

So, while The Three Stooges lineup of Moe, Larry, and Shemp is highly regarded, it’s the Curly years prior to his stroke in 1946 that represent the very best of the comedy act and why they were so successful. It’s a close debate, but one that almost all fans of the comedy act seem to agree on the answer to.