The Five Greatest Movie Comedy Teams of All Time: The Three Stooges

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The Three Stooges have withstood the test of time unlike any other comedy team. Generation after generation love their knockabout comedy shorts and become rabid fans. Their physical comedy style did not just happen overnight but honed after years on stage. Moe and Shemp Howard started in vaudeville in 1923. Larry Fine joined them in 1928. Headliner Ted Healy hired them as his "stooges" and the act made it to Broadway then Hollywood in 1930. Shemp left to pursue a solo movie career and third Howard brother, Curly Joe, came aboard. Healy was murdered leaving the stooges on their own. They can be seen in small parts in feature films. Stardom came when Columbia Pictures launched their comedy shorts. The Stooges made over 200 shorts betweens 1934 and 1958. Curly Joe left in 1946 due to a severe stroke. Shemp returned and stayed until his 1955 death. Fans new and old never seem to tire of the endless pokes in the eye or head bopping violent comedy. Of all the Stooges, Curly Joe is the most favored. The Three Stooges had a physical brand of comedy that has never been equaled and only imitated.