Curly Joe DeRita
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"Curly-Joe" DeRita (July 12, 1909 - July 3, 1993), born Joseph Wardell, was an American comedian who is best known as the "sixth" and last of the Three Stooges. DeRita was born into a show business family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Wardell's father was a stage technician, and his mother, a professional stage dancer; the three often acted on stage together from his early childhood. Taking his mother's maiden name, DeRita, the actor joined the Burlesque circuit during the 1920s, gaining fame as a comedian. During World War II, DeRita joined the USO, performing through Britain and France with such celebrities as Bing Crosby and Randolph Scott. He was married briefly sometime in the 40s to an unknown co-worker.
Career in the Three Stooges
After Shemp Howard died in 1955, Moe Howard and Larry Fine tried to complete the "Three Stooges" act with Joe Besser. Creative differences and his wife's illness led him to quit the act after two years and 16 theatrical shorts. Familiar with DeRita's work, Howard asked him to join the act, and he readily accepted. Noticing his physical resemblance to predecessors Besser and especially Curly Howard, DeRita was renamed "Curly-Joe," and became the third Stooge in 1958.DeRita's arrival coincided with changes to the Stooges' career. With the advent of longer theatrical films, Columbia Pictures' short films studio shut down, leaving the Stooges to seek their own full-length features. The team created a number of theatrical Three Stooges films, including Have Rocket, Will Travel and Snow White and the Three Stooges. Aimed primarily at children, these films rarely reached the same comedic heights as their shorts. (Moe and Larry's advanced ages plus pressure from the PTA and other children's advocates led to a severe toning-down of the trio's trademark violent slapstick.)
While DeRita's physical appearance was reminiscent of the original "Curly," his characterization was milder, and not as manic or surreal. Curly-Joe also showed a bit more backbone, even occasionally talking back to Moe.
DeRita recorded an uncensored "Burlesque" LP in the 50s. Had Moe not died in 1975, The Stooges (with Emil Sitka taking on the role as the middle stooge) would have done an R-rated movie called "The Jet Set".
Through the 1960s, DeRita remained a member of the team, participating in animated cartoons (with live-action introductions) and a failed television pilot titled Kook's Tour. However, Larry Fine suffered a stroke in 1970, permanently disbanding the Stooges. In later years, DeRita attempted to form a truly "new" Three Stooges, featuring other actors replacing Moe and Larry, but the act failed and DeRita retired.
Nearly blind from diabetes, Curly-Joe DeRita died in Los Angeles on July 3, 1993. Being the final living member of the original Three Stooges act, his epitaph reads, "The Last Stooge."
Further reading
- Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [link], (Citadel Press, 1977).
- The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon [link], (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
- The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [link](Citadel Press, 1994).
- The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [link](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
- One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [link], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).
External links
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