Of the many memorable moments on “The Three Stooges,” by far one of the most known is the eye poke gag. The origins of this trademark move? An apparent real life altercation over a game of cards. As the story goes, during during one bridge game between fellow stooges, Sheep angrily accused Larry Fine of cheating, stood up, and in his rage, went up to Fine, and proceeded to poke him in not one, but both of his eyes.
In response, Moe as he watched the hilarious events unfold, he laughed so hard, he fell backwards, right through a glass door. Moe kept note of this occurrence, and eventually made it a part of the comedy group’s onscreen performance. This move was later added to their long list of physical attacks on the show.
Curly’s Hair
Ironically, though Larry was known for his very curly hair, in contrast, Curly, despite his deceitful name, actually had a very bald head. In addition to his signature walk on the Stooges, Curly was also widely known as the character with a bald head. However, surprisingly, it wasn’t always this way. Prior to starring on “The Three Stooges,” Curly actually had a pretty great, curly set of hair.
But this would not last. Ted Healy, the brains behind the group’s success, decided Curly was not as funny with all this hair, and initially refused to hire Larry as a Stooge. Thus, to prove his worth, Curly shaved his head for his role on the show.
Ted Healy’s Mysterious, Unnatural Death
Though childhood friend and vaudeville performer Ted Healy is to thank for first bringing together the “stooges” for his comedy act in 1922, and while Healy remained on tour with the comedy team for years, the stooges eventually became unable to deal with Healy’s notoriously acerbic attitude and excessive drinking habits, and separated themselves from Healy in 1934, in order to independently pursue their career in film. In 1937, Healy’s infamously foul behavior would allegedly lead to his brutal murder. Though there are many different accounts of the night that lead to Healy’s eventual death, it is believed by most that he was beaten to death outside of a bar on Sunset Strip, after getting into a violent altercation with an associate of legendary mobster Lucky Luciano.
Despite the events leading up to it, there was still much uncertainty surrounding the true reason behind Healy’s tragic death. According to one MGM spokesperson, Healy died from a heart attack. However, injuries to Healy’s face lead others to believe he died from the altercation that night at the Trocadero. After much debate, the public release of his autopsy revealed Healy’s death to be a result of “nephritis and alcoholism”. According to the surgeon conducting the medical examination, there was no signs of skull injury, brain or blood clots, or any evidence of cerebral hemorrhage. Despite the autopsy, there was still much debate over the true death of the Three Stooges founder. While there were allegations that Shemp may have possessed information about Healy’s last, fatal night, this evidence was withheld, most likely out of fear of the powerful mobster. No one was ever charged with this supposed murder.
Football Players & Ballpoint Bullseyes
While the Stooges are infamous for their unique, physical sense of humor, little are aware of the amount of danger that the actors experienced on set. Little known to most fans, when creating the Stooges’ two-reeler, the director of the filming actually set a violence quota for every film. Stooges director Jules White was especially notorious for his complete disregard of the safety of his actors on set, often promoting unnecessary violence, as well as “many grotesque and overly cruel gags.” In fact, in order to maximize the amount of violence per scenes, at the insistence of White, dangerous objects like mallets, scissors, and even saws were frequently incorporated. As a result, these unnecessarily risky demands frequently lead to a number of physical injuries, including sprained ankles, cracked teeth, and—in the case of Moe Howard—even a broken nose.
Indeed, for the Stooges, who were extremely physical when it came to comedy, injuries were a common occurrence on set. While there were a few props and gags used to fake an injury, in order to avoid any real harm, injuries still were a common occurrence on the set. Most notable of these injuries was one involving a fountain pun stick in the back of Larry’s head, after another stooge threw it at him for one joke concerning a dartboard. One filming even left Curly with six stitches in his head! Despite his injuries, the show went on, and he finished the shoot with a wig on, in order to hide his comedic battle scars. To them, the hilarity of physical comedy was well worth the danger. For the show, they even went as far as to hire professional football players to attack them during their short film, Three Little Pigskins. For this particular scene, the Stooges allowed stunt doubles to take their place instead. A good move on their part, as the stunt doubles that replaced them suffered broken bones and cracked ribs.
The Potential Replacements for Curly
When Curly suffered from a severe stroke, which left him far too ill to return to work, the producers of the show were faced with the major challenge of finding a replacement to complete the now incomplete cast of The Three Stooges. According to the book ‘I Only Roast the Ones I Love’, written by comedian Jeffrey Ross, in the frantic search for Curly’s replacement, longtime Stooges’ Director Jules White made a call to notable comedian Buddy Hackett, who was best known for his roles in the films “The Music Man” and “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”.
During the call, White asked Hackett to move to Hollywood to stand in for Curly while he was healing. However, to White’s dismay, Hackett turned down the offer, in order to support his pregnant wife and child. To him, it did not make sense to relocate his pregnant wife and child, and did not believe this opportunity would be conducive to creating high quality comedy. “I just didn’t want to wake up every morning and wonder how the other two guys were feeling,” said Hackett.