Customer Reviews

Once a Stooge, Always a Stooge

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Joe Besser had the unenviable task of becoming the third member of the Three Stooges after the passing of his friend Shemp Howard. Columbia Pictures was cutting the budgets of its short subjects and Moe Howard and Larry Fine were getting long in the tooth by the time that Besser joined up for the filming of the final eighteen Three Stooges' shorts.

Besser had a lengthy career in vaudeville and radio, but he was less successful in making the transition to films. Nevertheless, when he joined the trio, Besser was the highest paid member of the Three Stooges. Fans resented the fact that Besser was not up to the rigors of doing all of the violent slapstick routines that both Curly and Shemp Howard participated in so often.

When Columbia decided not to renew the contracts of the performers and closed its short subject department, Besser was unable to join Moe and Larry for a cross country tour as part of their stage act. Besser's wife was in poor health and he needed to care for her. He continued to work in Hollywood, but missed out on sharing in the acclaim created by the television inspired revival of the Three Stooges. Curly Joe Del Rita replaced him as the third member of the act during the national tour and appeared in the several feature films that were produced afterwards.

Besser has some good stories to tell about his lengthy career in comedy. He was a close friend of Lou Costello and Milton Berle among others. After working as a regular with on Joey Bishop's television series, Besser found additional work providing voices for a variety of cartoon programs. In the latter part of his life, Besser was somewhat amazed to find that most of his recognition in Hollywood was derived from his brief stint with the Three Stooges.

Joe Besser should have stuck with his original title of "Not Just A Stooge" because he was so much more. This book covers his entire life from the early days of running away to become a magician's assistant, getting parental consent after the fact, to his early days in vaudeville, early stage and radio work right on through film and television. It is told in a likable conversational tone. For me, the highlight of his varied roles was as Stinky on the Abbott and Costello tv show.
His work with the Stooges was underrated but Stinky was his masterpiece.
A nice book about a nice man.

Someone seemed to want someone else listed first as author of this book, but it was written by JOE BESSER "with Jeff and Greg Lenburg."