Worst Stooge Ever.

"Curly Joe" DeRita
July 12, 1909 - July 3, 1993

Following the deaths of Stooges Curly Howard and Shemp Howard, and the lackluster performance of Shemp's replacement Joe Besser, nightclub comic Joe DeRita was recruited by Moe Howard and Larry Fine in 1958 to become the sixth member of the Three Stooges.

There's a lot of debate among Stoogeophiles as to who was worse, Joe Besser or "Curly Joe" DeRita. My money's on DeRita, because while Besser's contract forbade him from being physically abused by Larry and Moe, he at least had a comedic presence. DeRita was just a fat guy who was out of his element, which was telling dirty jokes in Las Vegas. While his act may have killed, he brought nothing to the Stooges, which by the late '50s were making movies for kids.

And the movies were terrible. The Stooges were done until the old Three Stooges shorts were syndicated to television in 1957. This brought a new wave of popularity to the team, which had been out of work since Columbia shut down its short-subjects division. So the movies, made to capitalize on their new fame, were aimed squarely at kids. Movies like The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, Have Rocket, Will Travel, and Snow White and the Three Stooges. You get the idea. Awful.

It's ironic that Curly Joe was with the Stooges for much longer than any other "third Stooge". He was still a member when Moe died in 1975 while planning a new film. In fact, he outlived every other member of the team, causing one to ponder the possible non-existence of a comedy deity.

The worst sin committed by Joe DeRita was not that he never found the Stooges funny, though he admitted this in later interviews. The thing he did that forever damned him in my eyes was puting on a nightclub act with two lesser-known fellow comics called "The New Three Stooges" after Moe died. It was a failure, as it should have been. No Moe Howard, no Stooges.

If there's a silver lining to Curly Joe DeRita's tenure with the Three Stooges, it's that it can be completely ignored. The movies are not part of the Columbia shorts, and it would be easy enough to go the rest of your life without encountering them. The Three Stooges, you say? Yes, I remember. Moe, Larry, Curly, then Shemp, then Joe. Broke up in 1957. Move along...nothing to see here.

Just like those Star Wars prequels. You betcha. Never happened.