The Shocking Truth: How the Three Stooges Lost MILLIONS!

[@cleide7282]

Shemp Howard was so funny and at the same time underrated so it's my favorite.

[@arlanderhightower]

you said it brother..........

[@54macdog]

I've seen these shows hundreds of times and still love them and crack up laughing. God bless the Three Stooges.

[@KutWrite]

He was the most sympathetic Stooge. He needed the other two, though to compliment each other as a sort of single persona. The protagonist in their shorts was "The Stooges." I think it's similar with other good acts like Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello. They each had talent as actors and comedians, but their famous personae needed each other to be complete.

[@Nanoaiello]

these guys are pure genius, i can still see them today and laugh my ass off, their comedy is timeless

[@bubbaw0458]

I used to watch them when I was a kid in the '60's and still enjoy them today. My favorite was Curly. He made the Stooges. I remember as a kid when Captain Penny, a kids show host on WEWS TV in Cleveland, would preempt the showing of the Stooges, with "Kids don't do what the Stooges do". Apparently, kids would mimic the slapping and poking kids eyes that parent would call in the TV station that kids were getting hurt and thus the warning. Oh the good ole days.

[@juaneyahclinyah8272]

OMG…I remember Captain Penny with heartfelt memories, and remember his words just as you stated them. Those were the good times, thanks!

[@thomasruwart1722]

You and I are about the same age and I grew up in Detroit but we never had any PSAs telling us not to do that stuff. Plus I remember watching the Three Stooges before a movie but that was in the early 1960s. I think the Three Stooges are one of those "timeless" things that will always be funny.

[@hertzair1186]

We had Dr. Max kids show here in Iowa…and yes the stooges were later banned in the late 60s due to kids mimicking it…but I never saw kids doing it

[@thomasruwart1722]

@@hertzair1186 - we did shit a lot worse than the Stooges - I'm surprised I'm here to write about it! We'd do things like hide behind furniture and throw darts at each other. And snowball fights with heavy wet snow. Grabbing a car bumper of a passing car on a snow-covered street and sliding on our boots or shoes until it went too fast or stopped. Don't get me started on all the things kids can do with fire crackers, cherry bombs, and M-80s. So long as we were back home before dark, our parents didn't seem to mind. And that was all before the age of 15. After that we had cars and life was very different. So, the Stooges antics were, from what I remember, somewhat tame compared to real life. Anyway, excuse me while I go put my glass eye back in...😈

[@bubbaw0458]

@@hertzair1186 I never saw it or did it either. It must've been the "Karens" of the day that called it in.

[@thomasruwart1722]

Funny true story. Sometime in the mid 1990s, I hired a new office administrator who had just moved to the US with her husband and 5-year-old son from Russia. One day she asked if she could bring her son to work the next day because it was some sort of holiday and her son's daycare would be closed. I said sure, no problem. I offered to set up a TV & VHS tape player in the cube next to hers and that he could watch some Three Stooges tapes that I had. She then asked "What are Three Stooges?" I realized at that point that she was not familiar with early American TV so I said "Here are a couple Three Stooges video tapes to show your son. Let me know if he likes them. I will bring other movies and TV shows for him to watch if he doesn't like the Three Stooges." The next morning my administrator came in with her son and before I could say anything, she gave me a rather odd, stern look and said "Tom, you have changed my life FOREVER. My son and husband watched the Three Stooges tapes for 3 hours straight and laughed so hard they were crying! I tried to watch but I could not understand what was so funny about grown men hitting each other and poking each other in the eyes." So, there you have it - an unplanned research experiment that demonstrates that the Three Stooges is universally a "guy thing". Well, OK, one data point. But it's a start!

[@ColKorn1965]

I showed Stooges, Marx Brothers, Little Rascals to my friends in Russia and they howled with laughter. They especially liked Curly's battle with his clam chowder

[@thomasruwart1722]

@@ColKorn1965 - That's fantastic! My personal Curly favorite is A Plumbing We Will Go where Curly builds a cage of pipes! That same skit was done with Shemp as well but the Curly version is much funnier IMHO.

[@patrickmulroney9452]

@@thomasruwart1722 the won i liked was about a female wrestler and also when the stooges married moe.s sisters

[@urbanurchin5930]

@@patrickmulroney9452 ....the ONE I like is when the dolt on KZbin can't spell ONE ! !

[@ColKorn1965]

@@thomasruwart1722 Curly was always funnier than Shemp

[@general5104]

Great narration. Thanks for putting the group bibliography together. That was a lot of study work. It's appreciated !!! I hate it that they got swindled out of their due. I remember where a robot re-programmed three more robots like the 3 stooges, in SHORT CIRCUIT. Another episode where they were hired to be BUTLERS at a fancy party. One of the "treats" was the Canopies. They read it as a "CAN OF PEAS". They could take every day things and make them funny. And "The 3 Blind Mice" being their theme song, was just THAT much funnier. They made it famous, the year before I was hatched. I fell out in 1953. Landed on my head and ain't been right, since...at least, that's the story Dad would kid me with. I have enjoy-joyed the 3 stooges my whole life. Thanks for the memories, as JACK BENNY would say..

[@saltyfox7056]

Shemp is my favorite.

[@Handsome_Gary_Kamensack]

Jeeb jeeb jeebjeeb

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

Their 5 second silent cameo in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World still cracks me up. And of course the curly lives on in Dr Zoidberg.

[@vilod]

Having watched the Stooges since the seventy's, Larry asking, "Where's your dignity?" gets me every time. I say this to this day.

[@JayFude]

I loved seeing Joe and Shemp in with Bud and Lou in "Africa Screams"

[@Patrick-gr9ee]

Interesting! I love The Three Stooges and Shemp is my favorite.

[@Deutschie]

Shemp was my favorite also.

[@MomentsInTrading]

Curly was the best Stooge. I was a big fan as a kid in the 70s.

[@edwardpike3386]

I was a big fan like my Dad and siblings in the 60's.

[@deltatango5765]

I felt the same way as a kid. I still remember being disappointed when a Shemp episode came on, but the older I got, the more I came to appreciate Shemp. Shemp's mannerisms are different, but just as funny to me. I have every episode of The Three Stooges on DVD except the Curly Joe (both of them) episodes. I don't care much for those at all, in comparison.

[@josephasner171]

Agreed. I Still impersonate Curly.

[@57highland]

The Stooges ended up with something far greater than royalties: Immortality.

[@freddy8479]

They DID end up with ROYALTIES!!! GENERATIONAL WEALTH!!!

[@jaimep3432]

Nothing better than knowing you left a big old stamp on the world

[@danielneeley5480]

Im a child of the 70s and 80s and ive raised my son to enjoy the stooges today. I can have a badday at work and come home and watch the stooges and forget about what happened at work.

[@OsbornTramain]

As a fan of the Three Stooges from the 1960's, I loved Joe Bessar.........Now Curley Joe, I never liked...never thought of him as funny...or a Stooge......I don't understand why people don't like Joe Bessar...he is so funny, honestly, just as good as Shemp or Curley but in his own special way.

[@DavidLS1]

The man-child who stole Pee-Wee Herman's bike in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure always reminded me of Joe Besser.

[@gregatkinson7276]

When Shemp passed away that was the END of the 3 stooges. The other replacement guys really did not compare at all to Curly or Shemp.

[@stillaboveground2470]

My favorite short was "Scrambled Brains" (with Shemp). A close second is "A Snitch in Time" (also with Shemp). The worst short of all of them was "The Yoke's on Me" (with Curly).

[@williamh.jarvis6795]

A Snitch in Time is really quite a funny episode. I like it!!

[@kevinwarner3771]

NOTHING beat those guys, the absolute sudden shock of Moe slapping the hell out of one of the others would just make me spit out food or drink (Don't watch them while eating/drinking anything!!!) Saddened SO by the rigors of Time and how it takes us ALL! These men made my life happier!

[@FredPilcher]

I used to love them when I was a kid. Great comedians.

[@johnf.tashjian6326]

I tend to lean toward "Violent Is the Word for Curly" as my favorite of the Three Stooges' shorts. What their manager did to them, though, was positively criminal.

[@kennethbeck2690]

Sheep was the funniest.

[@markklausen813]

Along with a friend, we visited the graves of Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp, and Christine McIntyre, in the same day.

[@BudTheDrummer]

I started watching the 3 Stooges at age 6 in 1964 and was hooked. I have a month's worth of shows on my DVR right now! I watch an episode every night around bed time. I loved every rendition including the Cartoon version. My favorite episode is and always will be Disorder in the Court. I have an appreciation for each and every one of the Stooges and their backing characters Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison, Ken McDonald and Christine Mcintyre along with the other great actors whom I'd have to google for their names. Although the 3 Stooges were mishandled and swindled, they somehow managed to live good lives with what they had and got a taste of how much joy they brought to kids for decades.

[@martinphilip8998]

In 1960 I was 5. A family friend bundled four of us into her car and off we went to the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois to see the horse show. Gertrude Hendrix was a mathematician who worked for my father but her true love was quarterhorses. She gave some older siblings riding lessons. We were in the stands when suddenly they announced that The Three Stooges were coming on stage. They were broke enough that this was their gig. The autographed photo salesman hit the stage with their wares. As Gertrude was asking my older brother who would waste their money on that? My hand shot up with the required sum and my siblings lined up to return their unspent money when we got home. I wish I could say that I sold that photo on Ebay for $500, but when you have 7 siblings it’s hard to save everything. I also miss my robot commando.

[@dpf5939]

I loved the 3 Stooges. I read/heard that Healy was a mean drunk and treated them badly. They were much better without him. They were all good, but Curly was the obvious fan favorite. I still laugh when I watch them now.

[@yahowa57]

In the end, Healy was served up a real special dose of karma for how He treated the Stooges.

[@radicalross7700]

If so, I wonder why karma gave Harry Cohn a pass.

[@briannichols4807]

I think my favorite Three Stooges short was " Disorder in the Court " .

[@Gwaithmir]

"Will you please take off your hat!"

[@urbanurchin5930]

@@Gwaithmir ...."A tarantula" ! ( Larry's reaction to the bailiff's toupe' on his violin bow )

[@missbleach8767]

I'm a victim of soicumstance.

[@viclafara3472]

The Best of the Best!

[@godfreymccammon4531]

I have all the 3 Stooges with Larry, Moe, Curly and Shemp. I never really cared for Joe or Curly Joe. I also have several movies with Shemp who was great by himself, African Screams with Abbott and Costello was one where Shemp stole the show. I get two hours every saturday on MeTV of the Stooges and it never wears thin...always hilarious.

[@Barry101er]

I had a Moe Howard canceled check from Safeway; his daughter was fundraising in the 1980s for a wing of a hospital in Moe’s name.

[@interwebtubes]

Nice piece 👍👍

[@patrickmulroney9452]

television paid 12 million dollars for those shorts..and paid the stooges nothing!

[@martinphilip8998]

In 1960 I was 5. A family friend bundled four of us into her car and off we went to the State Fair in Springfield, Illinois to see the horse show. Gertrude Hendrix was a mathematician who worked for my father but her true love was quarterhorses. She gave some older siblings riding lessons. We were in the stands when suddenly they announced that The Three Stooges were coming on stage. They were broke enough that this was their gig. The autographed photo salesman hit the stage with their wares. As Gertrude was asking my older brother who would waste their money on that? My hand shot up with the required sum and my siblings lined up to return their unspent money when we got home. I wish I could say that I sold that photo on Ebay for $500, but when you have 7 siblings it’s hard to save everything. I also miss my robot commando.

[@nickmad8312]

Great video as always!

[@pauldusa]

A great Bunch of guys

[@donaldetomas4651]

Loved the stooges Curly the best

[@arthurkottman528]

Shemp is the man

[@p40f20]

Curly was the greatest physical comedian ever!

[@DavidLS1]

Curley went crazy and killed Healy when someone played Pop Goes the Weasel.

[@j.thomasmelvin2015]

It is easy to say Curly as a favorite, though I am not a fan of Joe Besser, however I enjoyed the others in their own way. Disorder in the Court is my favorite

[@Geezer-yf8hv]

I liked Shemp too, his hair would always get mussed up!

[@markcampbell7554]

I can't remember a time in my life when the three Stooges weren't somewhere in my life. I loved watching them and I enjoyed the shorts and full length movie's. Curly was always a favorite of mine. To his credit, I think Curly Joe helped keep the act in peak form. Larry and Moe were always funny but i think Curly Joe brought new life to them. Anyway, long live the 3 stooges!

[@lelonfurr1200]

i saw them in the 59- on slam bang theatre on ft worths KTVT 11 started each day gloriously !

[@paulj6756]

Interesting that while the Three Stooges never made a dime of residuals for the shorts, Moe and his son-in-law Norman Maurer obtained copyrights on the images of the Three Stooges. That's why Official Three Stooges memorabilia bore the copyright of "Normandy Productions".

[@patrickmulroney9452]

i think if they had threatened a strike it would have worked

[@hectorrico8661]

I heard that not a single one of them knew how to read and write. Thats why the suits took so much advantage of them. I loved the autobiographical movie that Mel Gibson made of them. It was one of those rare tv gems.

[@mikeholt1248]

There is no greater Three Stooges fan than myself. I’ve seen all of their comedy shorts hundreds of times each, I know every gag and everything that’s about to happen yet I still bust out laughing, just can’t help it! But on the other hand I don’t have words harsh enough to describe the movie producer scumbags who lied, cheated, and stole from the Stooges. You would think that these great stars would have been treated better by the scumbag corporate bosses. The one thing that gives me great comfort is knowing that when the Stooges went on their national personal appearance tours they raked in tremendous money for a number of years, and I hope to hell none of the crooked movie moguls got their filthy paws on any of it!!

[@justinturley7071]

The Joe Besser part is also false. Joe Besser was real good with Shemp. The only thing that Joe Besser didn't want done, was a slap on the head, and that was it, but as he continued as a Stooge, he relented and allowed to get hit on the head. Joe Besser was also willing to go on a tour with Moe and Larry, but his Wife had suffered a heart attack, so he stayed with her to take care of her.

[@radicalross7700]

Moe was six weeks shy of 78, not 75, when he died on May 4 1975, exactly 47 years ago as I type this. Hard to believe it's been 100 years since a vaudeville performer who named himself Ted Healy hired two childhood buddies from Brooklyn to join his act.

[@philhogan5623]

You can see how much they influenced shows like The Young Ones in the 80s.

[@christinecollins6648]

Curly is my favorite- but Larry and Moe are a close second

[@gigigalaxy1395]

I like your videos!

[@jimstylin]

All of them were great. I also enjoyed the movie remake with Will Sasso

[@jameshaskell1073]

Kooks your sounds like a good reality show idea for today. Get there fairly well known standup comics to tour sites all around the country and video record what happens.

[@rogerrendzak8055]

Hi, Rick ☺️. As usual, a very fine (no pun, intended) documentary, production 👍!! The 'stooge' who really piqued my interest (but obviously not, most people) was believe it or not, LARRY 😁!! Ol' Larry was the 'batter' (cake), who held them, all together 😏!! Of course, as a true STOOGE fan, I guess I don't have a favorite, episode. But the ones I like most, usually are the scary, spooky ones 👻…………

[@hemlo7494]

I never thought Shemp was funnier than Curly, however I thought the episodes with Shemp were funnier, better balance among the three in those episodes.

[@johnleeson6946]

I’m a Larry fan! To the Front Desk of a posh hotel: “Send up a dozen bottles of champagne… A DOZEN… Ok, then, just send up twelve!” Or when doing their taxes, he gets distracted while slicing a loaf of bread and turns into a spiral!!!

[@rvk8991]

It might have worked with buddy Hackett as a replacement.

[@freddy8479]

HOWARD, FINE AND HACKETT!!!!

[@roberttelarket4934]

My first horrible job was at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center(a worthless hospital-take it from an insider)on Vermont and Sunset in Hollywood California from 10/74 through 6/76. One day in 1975 rumor had it that Moe was there. It was true. He was in an isolation room. My department had to make daily inventory of our equipment and possibly replace it. I was supposed to. Unfortunately my manager didn’t allow it. He did it himself. I missed the chance of a lifetime meeting one of the Stooges!!!!

[@frankbridges2171]

One of the greatest comedy team's of all time

[@chickenscursandacabin]

Curly. And oh man can I pick a favorite?? I think the one with "who threw those pies?" I can't remember the name of it but they were door to door sales men then the guy thinks they are the new house sitters and without missing an opportunity they agree lol

[@gregbetts8057]

they were part of my growing up along with laurel an hardy . cant think of better times . sad how the "establishment" screwed them over without reprocussions ...sad

[@artshifrin3053]

MY FAVORITE STOOGES SHORT IS "MEN IN BLACK". IT'S A SUPERB 'INVERSE' SATIRE' OF ("CALLING Dr. HOWARD, Dr. FEIN Dr. HOWARD") OF "THE MEN IN WHITE" IT'S A HOOT OF THE SERIOUS MGM FEATURES DEPICTING A STATE - OF - THE - ART - HOSPITAL. OF COURSE, I'M NOT CONFUSING THIS WITH THE MGM "DR. KILDARE SERIES". ALSO, "IN A PLUMBING WE WILL GO". I LOVE THE TORRENT OF CASCADING WATER BLASTING OUT OF THE TV SCREEN IN, WHEN SWITCHED TO REMOTE COVERAGE OF A WATERFALL. THAT'S IN "A PLUMBING WE WILL GO." I REMEMBER MOE, AT LEAST ONCE APPEARING LIVE WITH "OFFICER JOE" BOLTON (WPIX (CH. 11 N.Y.C.). IS THIS A CORRECT MEMORY? FINALLY, AT THEIR PEAK, WERE THEY EVER CONSIDERED FOR RADIO (SYNDICATED OR LIVE)? IF SO, WAS A DEMO RECORDED AND IS EXTANT? THAT HAPPENED WITH LAUREL & HARDY. THANKS FOR SPENDING YOUR TIME & EFFORT DOING YOUR PRODUCTION.

[@moviesgalore9947]

Moe was never willing to play hard ball with Harry Cohn at Columbia. The Stooges could have gone on strike refused to sign a new contract and every other studio would have offered them more money to keep doing shorts but Moe wanted to stay at Columbia.

[@Deutschie]

Moe was afraid of Harry Cohn's mob associations.

[@patrickmulroney9452]

EXACTLY!!!

[@marvinwhittaker]

It's sad that Curly's health deteriorated at an early age.

[@henrybrowne7248]

Sheesh, Buddy Hacket would've worked very well in that group. They might've regained their old lustre.

[@spaniardsrmoors6817]

No way, never laughed at any of his material or act, a total overrated bore.

[@jessekauffman3336]

As a kid I loved the stooges

[@j.s.friedman9649]

they took a beatin' -- pun intented.

[@billy2182]

"I think they're finding the range!" "I wish I was home on the range!" Back From The Front

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Regarding Healy's death, it was said that he ultimately died due to his vital organs being damaged by years of alcohol abuse.

[@johnlynch575]

yeah, the mouthing off to a coupla made guys, and picking a fight with them had zero to do with his death...GOT IT!

[@BobHolepit]

Am I in the Twilight Zone. ???? The three ducklings ? Shemp is Curly. Curly is Shemp. Curly Joe is in stories in the 1930's. ! I grew up watching the 3 stooges. Aleays loved them ! This show is like some kind of dream. ???????????? !!!!!!!!!!!!

[@mikepez]

Your videos are awesome, I wish I could give you more cash but my wife says I'm limited to the minimum. 😁

[@RerunZone]

Wow, thank you so much, Mike, I really do appreciate it!

[@glennso47]

Healy must’ve been a monster. Just like the head of Columbia pictures. Harry Cohn.

[@ianashby6294]

I've seen a quite a few three stoges shorts on dvd release pretty funny

[@vincentswift7]

Curly definitely best in the trio

[@jimmydean1689]

knuck..knuck..knuck!🙂

[@matthewjordan9043]

Classic

[@Geezer-yf8hv]

Curley was always my favorite!!!

[@prycerobertson4695]

To tell the truth, in reference to whether or not the boys received a raise, there were some modest increases. For example, Shemp received $24,000 in 1947. Their circa $20,000 covered the 6 weeks per year they spent at the studio, the inflation equivalent of $360,000 today. Not bad for 6 weeks work. As part-time studio employees, they were also on par with the kind of money full-time Columbia feature stars like Jean Arthur and Glenn Ford were receiving....$20,000 divided by 6 weeks, times 52 weeks = $173,000. It's also worth noting that they did not take a pay cut when the stock footage remakes began in 1952, and their workload decreased... in 1955, they received the same $20,000 for only 9 days work. (Hat tip to Stooge historians Brent Seguine and Jim Pauley for the information)

[@patrickmulroney9452]

if they had hired a professional negotiater they would have tripled their salary!

[@howardgilman5698]

Larry mentioned that when they did live performing between filming, they got half pay from the studio, plus what the venue would pay them. That's why, according to Larry, they stayed with Columbia all those years.

[@stephengiallombardo9894]

I read James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli might have been one of the assailants.

[@DavidLS1]

My theory is that Curley went crazy and killed Healy when someone played Pop Goes the Weasel.

[@blaudrache8434]

I have a nephew who can quote nearly all the dialogue in their shorts. And he is a medical doctor.

[@johnzeszut3170]

Joe Besser - I am sure that he is in Second Banana Heaven with Torgo, Robin the Boy Wonder, Tonto and Chester Good and so many beloved others......

[@rollotomassi6374]

Hey Moe, Hey Larry….Hey Fellas….oh, wise guy, Huh ?

[@JohnJones-oy3md]

8:57 - "Owen!!!!!"

[@rossmartenak5517]

I'm a staunch Three Stooges fan. I met Moe's Son Paul, many years ago at a Stooge Convention in Ft Washington, Pa just outside Philadelphia. The career of the Three Stooges would have been much brighter without the likes of Ted Healy and Harry Cohn. In my 'book', Joe Besser and Joe De Rita where NEVER really an important part of the Three Stooges: Moe, Larry, Curly, & Shemp. I would at least LIKE to think that the Three Stooges were not into acting, solely for the money, but the unscrupulous creed and uncaring attitudes of Ted Healy and Harry Cohn, were simply a thorn-in-sides of The "Boys". The only thing I didn't especially care for, was the fact the Three Stooges changed their names. One can only hope it didn't hurt their parent's feelings?

[@kotjmf1968]

Curly was the best of them all.

[@stevegallo8483]

Curly, who was overweight, also had high blood pressure and was known as a heavy drinker, both of which likely contributed to his strokes. The reason given for his drinking was he didn't feel he was attractive to women because of his shaved head. The Stooges final shorts with Joe Besser are regarded as their worst, because Joe's style of comedy wasn't a good fit with what Moe and Larry did. Also, Joe left the Stooges, because his wife had a heart attack and he wanted to care for her. The reason nothing happened with the final incarnation of the Stooges (Moe, Emil and Curly Joe) is because of Moe's own health issues at the time. Those health issues are why Moe retired the act when he did.

[@blaudrache8434]

It was said that Joe Besser was also a somewhat difficult character when off stage and often refused to do certain scenes. And when he decided to leave the act Moe and Larry were not unhappy about it. Joe DeRita on the other hand was actually easy to get along with and would do the best he could of anything asked of him to do on stage.

[@stevegallo8483]

@@blaudrache8434 It's pretty well known that Joe Besser had it written into his contract that he couldn't be hit.

[@Geezer-yf8hv]

Love the Stooges! End of story!

[@qure1]

"He don't know it's a toitle."

[@allenlovell1604]

Did this happen before or after one of child actors on the old Addam's Family successfully sued his agent, who had been swindling him for years. ? I read that the same eworld same thing happened to some of the early jazz artists and rock and roll singers ! Despicable behavior by their agents, who were supposed to look out for the Stooges best interest !

[@FutureSight666]

thast so messed up that they got screwed over....old times were ruthless werent they....

[@n3v3rg01ngback]

Nyuk nyuk nyuk. What a maroon!

[@Harbalz]

😜 hello 🤪 Hello 🙃 HELLooo

[@Harbalz]

HELLO!

[@joezephyr]

As a child, I watched TV after school and never found them funny at all. I watched this in case there was something I had not understood at the time.

[@lisaknox2328]

Too bad they got swindled , they were all great comedians and they should've let them have their money they earned it.

[@michaelrochester48]

The reason why they didn’t get compensation that you think they deserved is because they worked in short subjects. Which meant less than a feature film, shown before the main feature. The Marx brothers and Laurel and Hardy etc. got paid better because they made feature films!

[@stevegallo8483]

Harry Cohn being a cheapskate had a lot to do with it as well. That's why he always told them that the shorts weren't making much money.

[@jamesmoss3424]

That really sucks.

[@johnwright291]

I have heard for years about how the 3 stooges were ripped off. But how does that account for Moe owning a house on toluca lake probably the most expensive real estate in the world. And also curly owned several mansions during his life. The head of Columbia pictures was a notorious crook but the three gents certainly weren't hurting financially.

[@paulj6756]

I believe that Moe's invested his money wisely.

[@johnwright291]

@@paulj6756 theres an interview of larry fine in which he explains their income arrangement and he says it was considered the sweetest deal in Hollywood. I'm quite sure they were getting 60 thousand a year from Columbia. A lot of doe in those days.

[@thomasruwart1722]

Curly. Definitely Curly.

[@UpTown584]

Your heading reads, "How the three Stooges lost Millions," and then you go on to say nothing about that So how did the three stooges lose millions??

[@allenhansford6872]

I like currently guy

[@michaelrochester48]

For the record, $20,000 a year in the 1930s-40s was considered way upper middle class

[@roberttelarket4934]

Bullshit! $20,000/year in today’s money is a good $500,000/year! That’s not upper middle class but upper class!

[@johnlynch575]

True, but we loved Them, NOT the execs, who basically robbed them for their meekness. BE prepared to be disappointed with anybody who declares they'll make you rich and famous...not that I ever was.

[@michaelrochester48]

@@roberttelarket4934 But they made it look like the three stooges were in poverty when they were making great money

[@dennisdriscoll7830]

Curley. I never heard of anyone who liked Joe Besser or Joe DeRita as the third stooge!

[@ColKorn1965]

Curly was the greatest

[@patrickmulroney9452]

i liked them also!