Curly Joe DeRita
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| Joe DeRita | |
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| Born | July 12, 1909 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Died | July 3, 1993 (aged 83) Woodland Hills, California |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Sullivan (m. 1967–1993) |
Joe DeRita (July 12, 1909 – July 3, 1993), born Joseph Wardell, was an American comedian who is best known as Curly-Joe DeRita, the "sixth" member 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 (Portuguese)[1], 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 1940s to an unknown co-worker.
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[edit] Career with The Three Stooges
The Three Stooges (Curly Howard, Larry Fine, and Moe Howard) had been making short comedies for Columbia Pictures since 1934. Curly suffered a stroke in 1946, forcing him to retire; his brother Shemp Howard, the original third Stooge before leaving the act in 1932 for a solo career, only wanted to be a temporary replacement. Joe DeRita was also making short slapstick comedies for Stooges producer-director Jules White at the time. White attempted to recruit Joe DeRita for the Three Stooges, because he wanted "another Curly." However, the strong-willed DeRita refused to change his act or imitate another performer, and White eventually gave up on DeRita. (DeRita's own short-subject contract was not renewed.)[2] DeRita returned to burlesque, and in the 1950s he recorded a risque LP called "Burlesque Uncensored".
Shemp Howard died in 1955, and was succeeded by Joe Besser. Columbia shut down the short-subjects department at the end of 1957, and Besser quit the act. The two remaining Stooges seriously considered retirement. Then Columbia's television subsidiary, Screen Gems, syndicated the Stooges' old comedies to television, and The Three Stooges were suddenly TV superstars.
Now Moe and Larry had many job offers, but they needed a new partner. Larry saw Joe DeRita in a Las Vegas stage engagement, and told Moe that DeRita would be "perfect for the third Stooge." Howard and Fine invited DeRita to join the act, and he readily accepted. Because of his physical resemblance to both Curly and Joe Besser, and to avoid confusion with his predecessors, DeRita was renamed "Curly-Joe" and became the third Stooge in 1958.
The team embarked on a new series 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 the 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, calling him "buddy boy."
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, putting all new Stooges-related material on hold. Emil Sitka was named as "the middle stooge", but never got to perform with the team. Before Moe's death in 1975, the Stooges (with Emil Sitka taking on the role as the middle stooge) had planned to film an R-rated movie called The Jet Set (later produced with the surviving members of the Ritz Brothers and released as Blazing Stewardesses).
In the 1970s, DeRita attempted to form a truly "new" Three Stooges. He recruited burlesque and vaudeville veterans Mousie Garner and Frank Mitchell to replace Moe and Larry for nightclub engagements, but the act failed and DeRita retired.
Although DeRita enjoyed working with Moe and Larry, and made a good living doing it, he was not a fan of the Stooges' humor. He told an interviewer the following:
| “ | "I don't think the Stooges were funny. I'm not putting you on, I'm telling the truth — they were physical, but they just didn't have any humor about them. Take, for instance, Laurel and Hardy. I can watch their films and I still laugh at them and maybe I've seen them four or five times before. But when I see that pie or seltzer bottle, I know that it's not just lying around for no reason. It's going to be used for something. I was with the Stooges for 12 years and it was a very pleasant association but I just don't think they were funny.” [3] | ” |
In the spring of 2000, ABC aired a made-for-television movie about the Stooges, with actor Peter Callan playing the role of Joe DeRita.
[edit] Death
Nearly blind from diabetes, DeRita died in Los Angeles on July 3, 1993. He was buried in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood. His epitaph reads, "The Last Stooge," even though Emil Sitka lived on another five years.
Also, it should be noted that Curly-Joe and Emil Sitka were the only Stooge members who were not Jewish (DeRita was part Portuguese and part English, and Sitka was a Catholic of Lithuanian ancestry).
[edit] References
- ^ [1]Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent
- ^ The Three Stooges: The Triumphs and Tragedies of The Most Popular Comedy Team of All Time
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff; Howard Maurer, Joan; Lenburg, Greg; (1982). The Three Stooges Scrapbook, p. 93, Citadel Press. ISBN 0806509465]
[edit] Further reading
- Cox, Steve and Jim Terry. One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures. (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).
- Fleming, Michael. The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons. (Broadway Publishing, 2002).
- Howard, Moe. Moe Howard and the Three Stooges. (Citadel Press, 1977).
- Solomon, Jon. The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
