Joe Besser

After Shemp Howard died of a heart attack on November 22, 1955 at age 60, his brother Moe suggested that he and teammate Larry Fine continue working as "The Two Stooges". Studio chief Harry Cohn rejected the proposal. Although Moe had legal approval to allow new members into the act, Columbia executives had the final say about any actor who would appear in the studio's films, and insisted on a performer already under contract to Columbia, Joe Besser. At the time, Besser was one of a few comedians still making comedy shorts at the studio. He successfully renegotiated his contract, and was paid his former feature-film salary, which was more than the other Stooges earned.

Besser refrained from imitating Curly or Shemp. He continued to play the same whiny character he had developed over his long career. He had a clause in his contract prohibiting being hit excessively. Besser recalled, "I usually played the kind of character who would hit others back". He claimed that Larry volunteered to take the brunt of Moe's screen abuse. In a 2002 E! channel program which used file footage of Besser, the comic stated that the left side of Larry Fine's face was noticeably coarser than the other side, which he attributed to Moe's slaps.

As a result of his whiny persona and lack of true slapstick punishment against him (the cornerstone of Stooge humor), Joe has been less popular with contemporary Stooge aficionados, so much so, that "Stooge-a-Polooza" TV host Rich Koz has even apologized on the air before showing Besser shorts; during the show's tenure he received more than a few letters from viewers expressing their outrage over his airing them. Besser does have his defenders, however. Columbia historians Edward Watz and Ted Okuda have written appreciatively of Besser bringing new energy to what was by then a flagging theatrical series.[3]

The Stooges shorts with Besser were filmed from the spring of 1956 to the end of 1957. His Stooge tenure ended when Columbia shut down the two-reel-comedy department on December 20, 1957. Producer-director Jules White had shot enough film for 16 comedies, which were released a few months apart until June 1959, with Sappy Bull Fighters being the final release.

After Besser joined in, for the first time in their career, the Stooges did not go to any personal appearance during their lay-off season started from 1956.[4] There was a long-time belief, based on an existing ad, that the Stooges once performed live, with Besser as the third stooge, at the Paramount Theatre, Los Angeles, sometimes around 1957.[5] It was later found that the ad was erroneously used for the act's personal appearances in December 1959, with Joe DeRita, rather than Besser, as the part of line-up. In fact, Besser never made any personal appearances as a member of the Three Stooges.[6]

After their contract with Columbia ended, Moe Howard and Larry Fine discussed plans for a personal appearance tour, but Besser declined. His wife had suffered a heart attack in November 1957, and he was unwilling to leave without her. In later life, Besser praised Moe and Larry in a 1985 radio interview, of which a quote from said interview was aired on A&E Network's Biography. Besser said:

... Moe and Larry, they were the best. I enjoyed every minute of it with them. In fact, to show you how wonderful they were, I never liked to be hit with anything. And Larry would always say to me, 'Don't worry Joe, I'll take it.' Now that's the kind of guys that they were ...

Besser returned to films and television, most notably as the superintendent Jillson for four seasons (1961–1965) of The Joey Bishop Show. He also made occasional appearances on the ABC late-night series, also called The Joey Bishop Show between 1967 and 1969. Besser also had roles on The Mothers-in-Law, Batman, The Good Guys, That Girl, and Love, American Style.[7] He provided the voice of the dragon on The Alvin Show (1961)

Besser also provided voices for several Saturday Morning cartoon series in the 1970s. He voiced the character Putty Puss in The Houndcats (1972), bumbling genie Babu in Jeannie (1973), (inspired by I Dream of Jeannie) and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, and as Scare Bear in Yogi's Space Race (1978).[7] Besser's career slowed somewhat after he suffered a minor stroke in 1979, resulting in considerable weight loss.[7]

Later in life, Besser expressed some dismay that people only recognized him for his brief tenure with the Stooges. However, he eventually softened, realizing that the Stooges continued to bring him his greatest exposure.[7]

In 1984, Besser co-wrote with authors Jeff and Greg Lenburg his autobiography, Not Just a Stooge, for Excelsior Books.[7] The book would be later retitled and re-published as Once a Stooge, Always a Stooge following his death in 1988.

Joe Besser recalled his friendship with the Stooges in an emotional speech referring to "the four boys [Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp] ... up in heaven" looking down at the dedication of a star to The Three Stooges on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 30, 1983. Stooges co-actor Emil Sitka also spoke; the only other surviving Stooge, Joe DeRita, was ill at the time, though he outlived Besser by five years.[7]

In the spring of 2000, ABC aired a made-for-television movie about the Stooges, with actor Laurence Coy appearing briefly as Besser. This depiction of Besser has been criticized as being unfairly negative.