Curly Joe DeRita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Curly-Joe" DeRita | |
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| Born | July 12, 1909 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | July 3, 1993 at age 83 Woodland Hills, California |
"Curly-Joe" DeRita (July 12, 1909 - July 3, 1993), born Joseph Wardell, was an American comedian who is best known as the "sixth" and last 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 40s to an unknown co-worker.
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[edit] Career in the Three Stooges
After Shemp Howard died in 1955, Moe Howard and Larry Fine tried to complete the "Three Stooges" act with Joe Besser. His wife's ill health led Besser to quit the act after two years and 16 theatrical shorts. Familiar with DeRita's work, Howard asked him to join the act, and he readily accepted. DeRita became the first non-Jewish member of the Three Stooges. Because of his physical resemblance to predecessors Besser and especially Curly Howard, DeRita was renamed "Curly-Joe" and became the third Stooge in 1958. "Curly-Joe" also made it easier to distinguish him from Besser (the previous Stooge called Joe).
DeRita's arrival coincided with changes to the Stooges' career. With the advent of longer theatrical films, Columbia Pictures' short films studio shut down, leaving the Stooges to seek their own full-length features. The team created a number 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 a severe 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."
DeRita has gotten his share of flak from Stooge fans, often being characterized as "bland" or "dull". However, several factors affected the quality of his Stooge output for which DeRita himself cannot be held responsible.
DeRita recorded an LP "Burlesque Uncensored" in the 50s, that shows his forte was blue humor. Had Moe not died in 1975, The Stooges (with Emil Sitka taking on the role as the middle stooge) would have done an R-rated movie called The Jet Set (later produced with the surviving members of The Ritz Brothers and released as Blazing Stewardesses).
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. In later years, DeRita attempted to form a truly "new" Three Stooges, featuring other actors replacing Moe and Larry, but the act failed and DeRita retired.
Nearly blind from diabetes, Curly-Joe 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."
[edit] Further reading
- Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [2], (Citadel Press, 1977).
- The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion; by Jon Solomon [3], (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002).
- The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [4](Citadel Press, 1994).
- The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [5](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
- One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [6], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).
