# The best Stooge **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260 "2017-12-12T04:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/21 "2017-12-12T15:28:02Z")
Curly. Yes, he had to retire after his stroke, and they did plenty of funny work without him, but there’s no way they’d still be so well known without him. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Ebenezer Stooge. Oh, a wise guy, eh? (drags **Gyrate** around the room with a clawhammer in his nose). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/22 "2017-12-12T16:19:24Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Shemp has always been my favorite Stooge. He is the most subtle and sublime stooge. Anyone who disagrees can suuuuuuuck it! Subtle and sublime are not words I associate with a Stooge. That’s like saying Zeppo was the best Marx Brother because he ended up with the most money. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/23 "2017-12-12T16:26:04Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Any of the Three Stooges was replaceable, except Moe. I’ll watch Moe, Larry, and Curly – no question. But while Shemp and Larry and Curly would be worse, I’d find it to be, uh, _less worse_ than Moe and Curly and Shemp. Moe Lite can work, a bit; but Larry added something weird and offbeat and unique. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/24 "2017-12-12T16:31:31Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’ll watch Moe, Larry, and Curly – no question. But while Shemp and Larry and Curly would be worse, I’d find it to be, uh, _less worse_ than Moe and Curly and Shemp. “I’m having Shemp, Moe, and Larry.” “That’s still got Shemp in it!” “Not as much as Shemp, Larry, Curly, and Shemp.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/25 "2017-12-12T17:13:31Z")
Who edited \*\*\*Cosmopolitan \*\*\*and went “Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck”? Helen Curly Brown. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/26 "2017-12-12T18:10:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Well, they were also billed as “Iggy and the Stooges”, the phrasing of which suggests that Iggy was not, himself, a Stooge. They were The Stooges first, tho, so singling him out doesn’t necessarily revoke his Stooge-ness. IIRC they were only really credited as Iggy and the Stooges after Ron passed away in 2009. I still think it was a mistake to do this, as bad as a “Joey and the Ramones” would have been. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/27 "2017-12-12T18:26:34Z")
I figured Curly would be in the lead, he always wins as people’s favorite Stooge, he could be considered the funniest Stooge depending on how you define it, and he was undoubtedly the best at the physical humor that was a large part of their appeal. But since the question is about the ‘best’, I’ll define ‘best’ in any way that results in Shemp as the answer. Shemp had the real pathos, he was the most human of the Stooges. Moe’s talents are sometimes short-changed, if you get to see the documentary series made by his son there’s a scene where Moe did the alphabet song in Japanese, late in his life, as vocally nimble and entertaining as he had ever been in the age of the Stooges. Also, there’s a special place in Hell for anyone who votes for Joe Besser. Yes Virginia, Joe was a real Stooge, but he was the worst Stooge. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/28 "2017-12-12T19:04:11Z")
I voted Curly, but Shemp was okay. He was one of the original Stooges, after all. Curly replaced him after he left the group, and then Shemp returned after Curly became ill. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/29 "2017-12-12T19:07:33Z")
I always looked up to Moe. He was sort of a role model for me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/30 "2017-12-12T19:14:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > An almost-Stooge is Emil Sitka, frequent actor is the Stooge shorts, and famous for the line “Hold Hands, you Lovebirds” from the Stooge short _Brideless Groom_, was offered the part as replacement for Larry after his stroke (twice, in fact, in 1970 and in 1975). He even went into rehearsals with Moe and Curly Joe, but it ultimately never hit the stage or the film. Emil Sitka was from my hometown, Johnstown, PA. 🙂 Here’s a publicity pic of Emil as a Stooge, with Moe Howard and “Curly” Joe DeRita. He named himself Harry, in honor of Larry Fine, whom he replaced. [![](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/stooges/images/5/5e/384_bio10_fifthsetofStooges.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110417044743) ](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/stooges/images/5/5e/384_bio10_fifthsetofStooges.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110417044743) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/31 "2017-12-12T19:48:04Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > I always looked up to Moe. He was sort of a role model for me. You must be really short! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260/32 "2017-12-12T22:52:35Z")
Off camera: Moe. On camera: Curly. Moe had the smarts and perseverance to make things work for a long time. But it was Curly who shined brightest. Compare Curly to the fake-Curlies that followed. None of them did what he could do as a Stooge. And at least Joe Besser wasn’t a schmuck. He did some good non-Stooge work. I still remember him from _The Joey Bishop Show_ (sitcom). (IMDb says he had more appearances than Abbie Dalton. Wow.) Don’t recall anything good about Joe DeRita as a Stooge or not. Emil would have made a fine Stooge. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-stooge/804260.md?page=1)