Customer Reviews

Stooges Among Us

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We've been very fortunate to have seen several excellent books on the Stooges recently. But, for my money, one of the finest reads of late is "Stooges Among Us", compiled by Lon and Debra Davis.

Through essays by those who met the Stooges in their waning years, it paints an extraordinarily human portrait of elderly Stooges who are proud of their accomplishments, appreciative of their young fans, and perhaps just a little bitter about their stature in the realm of film comedy. How would they react knowing, today, they're better remembered than Laurel & Hardy or the Marx Brothers?

While people like Stan Laurel and Groucho Marx were feted by the young up-and-comers who grew up in their shadows (Dick Van Dyke, Dick Cavett), the Stooges - as befitting their everyman status - opened their doors to teenage boys who would ultimately become the film scholars keeping their legend alive today.

The most interesting part of "Stooges Among Us" is what it reveals about the relationship between Moe and Larry, who - after 50 tumultuous years together - may have formed a brotherly bond beyond what Moe shared with his actual brothers, Curly and Shemp. With their careers over and little in common beyond so many years of Stoogedom, flinty Moe (in robust health and living quite comfortably) and laidback Larry (wheelchair bound in a small apartment) become gentle caricatures of their onscreen personas, in a sort of "Sunshine Boys" scenario that's fragile, funny, and touching. I can't recommend this one enough.

There's something about seeing old Stooges in photos that's really intriguing. As years progressed in their career, The Three Stooges (especially in the 60s), became cartoonish in appearance anyway--sort of caricatures of themselves. I love the photos of old Moe with the full bangs of silver hair (sans shoe-polish black hair dye). It's nice to know these old guys loved their fans. That's what you ultimately take away from this book.

The book's concept is a fresh one and the editors have done a very fine job assembling some fun stories and anecdotes, straight from the fans who had the great fortune of meeting the Stooges decades ago. Fans will eat this book up. It's a neat perspective on the whole Stooges fascination and craze.

When I first heard there was another book about the Stooges coming out I had a luke-warm reaction. Like "What more can be said that hasn't been said in the many other books."

What is missing from most of the other books is the personal interaction of the Stooges. Moe's book (published two years after his death from his incomplete notes) is strangely cold, it never lets you understand how they felt & interacted with each other. Moe's book (not this one) makes you feel like Shemp just kind of came into the group, and then died. Nothing about what it was personally like to work with him.

Now enters the book "STOOGES AMONG US"! Here is a book written by the many people who have come in personal contact with the Stooges. They talk in detail of meeting them from the points of a family member, co-worker, friend, and fan. Their conversations with the Stooges have never been documented like this before.

When I first picked up this book & started reading in, I was suddenly transported into Larry's room at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills, California. Yes, this book made me feel like it was me there in Larry's presence, talking to him, learning his personal view of being a Stooge. 'Hearing' him talk of Curly's ill health in 1945, suspecting the strokes had started then. I wrote of this same incident in my DVD review of the Three Stooges Volume 4, but before I had read this book. To read Larry re-enforcing my observations was rewarding. To feel like I was actually meeting him was a pleasure. But there is a startling reference made by Larry hinting to some friction between him & Moe over his book "A STROKE OF LUCK". We fans like to think of Larry & Moe as long time friends, but it seems things got touchy near the end of their lives.

Through another writer we get to visit Moe & his wife Helen in their Hollywood Hills home, watching the Watergate Trials on television! Moe's interview (done years before his autobiography got published) reveals a few of his personal feelings of working with his brothers. Surprisingly, little was said about Larry here, Curly was Moe's focus.

The two Joes are also visited, Besser prefers to talk about his other work (his future book title "Not Just A Stooge" proves this), DeRita was a little harder to approach but did come around.

We even get to 'talk' to Emil Sitka!

Those that worked with the Stooges in the early days also reflect on their memories, brief as some are. But even these short chapters lend some new insight into what it was like working with the boys. Even child star "Baby Peggy" has fond memories of Ted Healy, because he was sober around her family. But then, Ted was not her boss.

There are also some brief histories of the Stooges which knowledgeable fans will just skim over, as I did. They are too brief to give any new information not in other books, just there to refresh our memories. Fortunately they are not the focus of the book.

The main asset of this book is that it allows those of us who never had the opportunity to visit with the Stooges, to do so. While I did see them on stage as a child in the 1960's, that is not the same. Before I got old enough to travel to California and visit them, they were gone from this world. Now, with this book, I feel like I have visited them!

In short,this book is a fun, fascinating collection of stories and anecdotes written by friends and fans of THE THREE STOOGES--always interesting and warmly insightful. Loved it from cover to cover. Highly recommended!

I just loved this book. It showed a side of the Stooges, the personal side, that showed how classy they were. The amount of effort and class they showed to the fans was wonderful to read about. These are huge stars spending time with the fans and caring about the fans. It is something that sure is missing today. The stories show the people behind the genius of the comedy. And it is great to hear that they were great people in addition to great comics. It is amazing to hear how ordinary fans could get to know the Stooges and how the Stooges cared about their fans. Oh, how I wish I was able to be able to meet them like the people in the book did. THis book allowed me to put my self in their shoes many years ago and I know feel like I know the Stooges a bit more personally than I did before I read the book. Thanks for a great book, I will be reading this one again and again in the years down the road.

There's not much I can say that the previous reviewers didn't say first, except that I agree with all of their observations. This is a marvelous book, and I appreciate the fact that it's written in such a way that the reader feels as if he's right there as the encounters unfold. I'm glad to see that Larry and Moe retained their humor and compassion to the end. Thank you, Lon and Debra, for bringing this new information about the Stooges to us in such a readable way.

BearManor Media presents "STOOGES AMONG US" (Paperback) - Edited by Lon & Debra Davis has given us (The Stooges Fans) an impressive book, which is in an easy to read format --- Recalled by many friends and fans of "The Boys", give us an inside look at them off the screen associated with regular people --- All the Stooges were really down to earth, as this book shows and delivers --- Every section gives us a glimpse as to the personality and individual characteristics on and off the screen --- We'll never see their kind again, they were the best of the best in the comedy department and kept us in stitches for decades.

Very reasonable and a good value for the price --- For product description and editorial review check this out on the Amazon site above my review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: (Chapter, Title and Page Numbers)
FORWARD (by Leonard Maltin) ---------------------------------- 2
INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------- 5
FINE MEMORIES (by Lon Davis) --------------------------------- 7
A VIEW FROM THE FRONT ROW (by Diana Serra Cary) -------------- 36
MY PAL MOE (by Bob Bernet) ----------------------------------- 42
STOOGES - LIVE & IN PERSON (by Steve Stoliar) ---------------- 56
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME (by Rose Marie) --------------------- 60
PAPA SHEMP (by Sandi Howard -------------------------------- 64
A TALE FROM THE WEST (by Adam West) ------------------------ 68
THE STOOGES: A FAMILY LEGACY (by Rick Lertzman) -------------- 71
MICRO-PHONIES: LARRY & MOE ON THE RADIO (by Ed Busch) -------- 83
QUILL PENS & CONTRACT PLAYERS (by Mark Evanier) ------------- 107
SEARCHING OUT THE STOOGES (by Scott H. reboul) ------------- 111
BOUNDLESS LOVE (by Joan Howard Maurer) --------------------- 148
MEMORIES OF JOE, MOE & LARRY ------------------------------- 151
HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION (by Eric Lamond) ------------ 160
MY SIX STOOGES (by Randy Skretvedt) ------------------------ 167
A STAR IS BORN (by Gary Owens) ---------------------------- 192
ALL THE WORLD'S A STOOGE (by Gary Lassin) ---------------- 197
AFTERWORD -------------------------------------------------- 211
SUGGESTED STOOGE READING ---------------------------------- 212

BIOS:
1. Larry Fine (aka: Louis Feinberg)
Date of Birth: 5 October 1902 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 24 January 1975 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

2. Moe Howard (aka: Moses Horwitz)
Date of Birth: 19 June 1897 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 4 May 1975 - Los Angeles, California

3. Curly Howard (aka: Jerome Lester Horwitz)
Date of Birth: 22 October 1903 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 18 January 1952 - San Gabriel, California

4. Shemp Howard (aka: Samuel Horwitz)
Date of Birth: 17 March 1895 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 22 November 1955 - Hollywood, California

5. Joe Besser
Date of Birth: 12 August 1907 - St. Louis, Missouri
Date of Death: 1 March 1988 - North Hollywood, California

6. Curley-Joe DeRita (aka: Joseph Wardell)
Date of Birth: 12 July 1909 -Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 3 July 1992 - Los Angeles, California

Hats off to Ben Ohmart and his staff at BearManor Media, for having the good sense to publish this one of a kind book with genuine insight --- Also a great job by Lon and Debra Davis, who collected each segment and gave us a lasting memory of the cast and characters which were never before told --- Must make mention this is for ALL of the Stooges Fans, plus a tender documentation that will leave you with a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye --- You've just met "The Boys", first hand through this read.

Total Pages: 217 ~ BearManor Media #ISBN-13: 978-1593933005 ~ (7/14/2008)

The book was better than I expected. I am totally satified with my purchase. I received the book earlier than I expected. I wouldn't hesitate purchasing another book.

A fun book to read. Gives a little more insight into the off screen lives of the Stooges

The title was curious to me, the cover photo wowed me, then I saw Leonard Maltin wrote a foreword. That convinced me this book had something new to say. I am so happy I read the book; it's filled with short chapters of different authors recalling their brush with the Stooges. These arent just old anecdotes compiled together. There is a soul here.

Author Lon Davis' own friendship with Larry inspired him to write. He gives us insite of these gifted, talented actors behind the scenes. Author Davis set the tone; these are lovely stories from important people that wanted to share. A nice virtue indeed. You can tell in each of the stories, how much of an influence the Stooges were.

Some of the contributors held on to their private moments with the boys' their whole lives. This was a wonderful format, I hope the author is considering a follow up book. I am very thankful for being allowed into what the authors experienced.

A surprise was Lucille Ball's reaction to the comedy team. Maybe it was a bad day, but it is clear she just dismissed them. That's what most people did of their age group.

The Stooges were humble off screen and gave of themselves. To read how Larry participated in a high school fund raiser, though suffering from a stroke, reafirms my admiration for them. He didn't have to do that, he could have been bitter and shut himself off from the world.

Thank you again Lon, for Stooges Among Us. It made me smile. The book is now proudly in my library. Any fan of The Stooges or any sociological scholar should read this book. I cannot recommend it any higher.