Moe Howard and the 3 Stooges: The Pictorial Biography of the Wildest Trio in the History of American Entertainment Books
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Moe Howard began writing this book several months before he died in 1975. This book was posthumously published in 1977. I bought my paperback copy of this book from Funny Side Up,a mail order catalog in 1985. This book is not only the biography of Moe. It also is about the legacy of his comedy team,The Three Stooges. He also told everything he knew about his 5 fellow Stooges,Larry Fine,Joe Besser,Joseph Wardell aka Curly Joe DeRita,and his brothers Curly and Shemp. Being a longtime Three Stooges fan is what motivated me to buy this book. There is also a listing of all Three Stooges movies. The 190 short subject comedies,the feature films,the cameo appearances and the Stooges' separate appearances. Besser and Wardell were still alive when this book went to press. Five years after this book was released,THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK came out,co-written by Moe's daughter,Joan Howard Maurer. Joan's husband Norman later would become the Stooges' manager. This book is packed with photos of Moe,with and without his fellow Stooges. I dedicate this book to the memory of Moe(June 19,1897-May 4,1975) and his five fellow Stooges.
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Moe Howard shows that he was not only a gifted comedian but also a gifted writer! This is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. With load of interesting tidbits of the greatest comedy group of all-time by the man who lived it himself! Too bad the Stooges never had a sharp agent to deal with Columbia Pictures and all the other movie moguls that ripped them off especially when the shorts became a hit on tv.
Rating:  -
Moe Howard's book is a great quick read if you can find a copy. In it he tells us of his roots in Brooklyn New York, having been born with the decidedly non-show-biz name Moses Harry Horwitz following older brother Sam (Shemp) into the world. Later on, the baby of the family Jerome (Curly) came into being. The book is laced with great photos and funny anecdotes. For instance, Moe recalls noticing an ad in Billboard Magazine when he was a teenager, seeking a handsome actor with a nice wardrobe for some shows in Mississippi. Moe, lacking photos and nice clothes sent in a photo of his good-looking friend from down the block and to his amazement, received a train ticket in the mail. Never doubting his ability to sell himself, Moe ignored Shemp's hysterical warnings about being loony and setting himself up for criminal prosecution, and took the train ride down there. After the initial shock of the theater owner wore off, Moe swept floors for a few weeks and later became an actor in the troupe garnering some valuable early theater experience there. Later with Shemp, Moe became a vaudeville performer. One day Moe noticed a strange-looking entertainer playing violin while doing a kooky Russian dance as his act. This turned out to be Moe's first encounter with Larry Fine. Moe, Shemp, and Larry later hooked up with a star of the vaudeville circuit Ted Healy, playing his background foils. When Shemp decided to pursue some solo film work Curly was sent for to replace him, and when the three of them decided they'd had enough of Healy's drinking and uninspiring pay, they quit and The Three Stooges were born...(the name was Moe's idea) and the rest was history! When the Stooges signed with Columbia Pictures where they created their many famous film shorts (called "two-reelers"), their contract contained a clause which signed away their rights "in perpetuity in mediums existing now or to be invented." Unfortunately for the Stooges, one of the new mediums which was soon to be invented was television. When the Stooges's two-reelers were released on television they were an instant success. And while the Stooges did earn very respectable salaries from Columbia for their acting work, the mind boggles at the amount that would have flooded into their bank accounts from T.V. royalties. To me, this finally explains the long-lingering question I've had in the back of my mind as to why the Stooges kept on going with the far inferior replacements Joe Besser and Joe DeRita after the deaths of Curly and Shemp. The answer is that after the explosive success of the Stooges on television, they were able to command large personal appearance fees and endorsements to compensate for their being shut out from royalties by their contract. Furthermore, they were able to produce some lucrative feature-length films during this period. Throughout the book, Moe comes across as a classy and positive man, rolling with life's punches and enjoying "clean living", and always honoring his wife, children, brothers, parents, grandchildren and friends with an unflagging loyalty, pride and a deep and sincere love. Humble in the face of his iconic status, he allows himself to beam with pride at moments of great adulation and honor, and we beam right along with him. My only wish for this book is that Moe would have included some more glimpses into Curly's life, because we are left to wonder what he was up to as a child, adolescent and adult with only a few tantalizing tidbits offered here. But Moe's great love and respect for his brother Jerome/Curly does shines through. At one point he calls Curly a "genius in his field", an assessment validated by his secure place in the patheon of comedic legends, right alongside Moe, Larry and Shemp. We are richer people for Moe's memoirs. Highly recommended.
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OK, maybe it isn't great literature, or even literature at all, but fo Stooges lovers it is a really fun read. A ton of pictures. Moe Howard tells how it all happenned. He explains who the various Stooges were, where they came from , and what happenned to them. Shemp died peacefully in a friend's car after a horese race. He just leaned against a friends shoulder and died with a smile on his face. I can't believe that it has been over 25 years since Moe, the last of the original Stooges died.
Great book, and a great way to relive some of your childhood.
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Ever since I was a little girl I've been fascinated with the 3 Stooges. & they're NOT women haters, their script writers were shovanists. They deserved SO much more respect & love than what they got back in their days. I LOVED that remake biography ABC made^_^
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