The Three Stooges: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Most Popular Comedy Team of All Time

by Jeff Forrester, Tom Forrester

Did Stooge favorites Curly, Shemp and Larry suffer cerebral hemorrhages as a result of being repeatedly hit on the head? What role did the Stooges' creator Ted Healy play in the mysterious death of comedienne Thelma Todd? Was Healy himself fatally beaten by a group of tough guys (including actor Wallace Beery and gangster Pat DiCicco) during a nightclub brawl on Hollywood's Sunset Strip? What did Beery's boss, MGM president Louis B. Mayer, do to cover up the incident? And what was the connection between the New York Mafia, Columbia Pictures rajah Harry Cohn, and the Stooges themselves? These and many other fascinating questions are addressed in this definitive look at the Most Popular Comedy Team of All Time.

Paperback

Published November 1, 2004

Reviews

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disappointment. No back story, just lots of photo's and endless lists of movies with which cast. I was able to skim and not miss anything.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book because I had been reading about the upcoming Three Stooges biography movie in the works starring Sean Penn, Jim Carrey, and Benito Del Torro (Sp?). Though it was fun to read through, it was not the in depth biography that I'd been hoping for.

[Keri-Ann Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely an interesting read. It spent a good bit on time on the boys with Healy and i can't say i minded. Most of what you read about Healy says the same about him. This book painted him in a little bit of a more positive light. It then goes through the years. First through Curly's decline. Then through Shemps distaste of being back, how and possibly why he came back. To Besser not wanting to be a Stooge (though i feel he might have been a little hard on him). To Joe DeRita's only demand for joining the group. This is also one of the few books that mentions C3 their production company they founded. The author never flat out says it but a lot of the responsibility for the failing health of the boys falls on the hits, which in turn falls on Moe. Which very could be true but it also just glosses over the fact that straight man Emil Sitka also suffers a stroke who took no blows to the head. Which when you look at a good many of obituaries from that time, i feel medical just wasn't very good back then. O f course this is just a personal opinion as i am in no way a medical professional. Though for fellow Stooge fans i would definitely recommend this.