In order to complete four Shemp-era shorts, film actor Joe Palma was used as a temporary body double before Joe Besser became the long-term replacement as the third Stooge.

Besser, noting how one side of Larry Fine's face seemed " calloused ", had a clause in his contract specifically prohibiting him from being hit too hard ( though this restriction was later lifted ).

Television was the new popular medium, and by the time Besser joined the act, the Stooges were generally considered throwbacks to a bygone era.

Though Besser was a very funny comedian ( he was very popular on The Abbott and Costello Show ), his whining mannerisms (" Not so harrrrd!

However, Besser was not solely to blame for the lackluster quality of these final entries: the scripts were tired rehashes of earlier efforts ( 7 of the 16 films were remakes ) and Moe and Larry's performances lacked energy.

The film did well in theaters, and was well enough known to be referenced in one of Columbia's Three Stooges shorts: the Stooges ' spaceship is about to crash when Joe Besser yelps, " I don't want to die!

Joe Besser and director Edward Bernds remember that because of his constant and free spending and gambling, Larry was almost forced into bankruptcy when Columbia terminated the Three Stooges comedies in December 1957.

When it was time to renew the Stooges ' contract, Columbia hired comedian Joe Besser to replace Shemp.

Besser was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas to parents Diane and Sandy Besser.

His father was Jewish and his mother was Christian, and Besser is an atheist.

Besser's grandfather's cousin was Joe Besser of The Three Stooges.

While working at the New Variety, Besser was cast and directed by New Variety founder and Artistic Director R. O ’ Donnell in the TV comedy / variety special Twisted which aired on Fox, Chicago.

The theater was founded by Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh, a group of comedians who perform as the Upright Citizens Brigade.

Shemp Howard died in 1955, and was succeeded by Joe Besser.

Because of his physical resemblance to both Curly and Joe Besser, and to avoid confusion with his predecessors, DeRita was renamed Curly Joe.

He was buried in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood ; his epitaph reads " The Last Stooge ", as he outlived Joe Besser ( although Emil Sitka died in 1998, his position as an " official " Stooge is debatable as he never appeared on screen in this capacity ).

Vinnie once lost his friends when they learned his aunt married Mr. Besser but fortunately the wedding was short-lived.

Mr. Besser was once married to Vinnie's aunt, much to the shock of both males ( Vinnie didn't know Mr. Besser was his aunt's husband and Mr. Besser didn't know Vinnie is his wife's nephew until the two of them met during the wedding party ), but the wedding ended when she learned he expected to live at her expenses.

Almost 400 of Columbia's 529 two-reel comedies were released to television in the late 1950s ; to date, only the Stooges, Keaton, and short films starring Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, and Joe DeRita have been released to home video.

The audience roared with laughter, and Besser from then on was assigned " comic mishap " roles only.

Third-stooge Joe does have his defenders, however: Koz himself once hosted an episode featuring only Besser shorts, and Columbia historians Ted Okuda and Edward Watz have written appreciatively of Besser bringing new energy to what was by then a flagging theatrical series.

Later in life, Besser expressed some dismay that fans only recognized him for his brief tenure with the Stooges.

Stooges co-actor Emil Sitka also spoke ; the only other surviving Stooge, Joe DeRita, was ill at the time ( though he would outlive Besser by five years ).

Moe quickly signed movie and burlesque comic Joe DeRita for the " third Stooge " role ; DeRita adopted first a crew cut and then a completely shaven hairstyle and became " Curly Joe " because of his resemblance to the original Curly Howard ( also to make it easier to distinguish him from Joe Besser, the earlier Stooge called Joe ). The Three Stooges with Curly Joe DeRita filling the role of the third stooge.

* The Three Stooges ( 1956 – 1959 ) as Joe-( appeared in many short-feature films with them as third Stooge " Joe Besser ")

The Besser films have long been considered the worst of the Stooge films.

Other semi-regulars were future Stooge Joe Besser as Stinky, a 40-year-old sissy dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit, and Gordon Jones as Mike the cop, who always lost patience with Lou.

As a result of his whiny persona and lack of due slapstick punishment against him ( the cornerstone of Stooge humor ), Joe has been less popular with contemporary Stooge fans, 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 fans expressing their outrage over his airing them.

In 1984, Besser co-wrote with authors Jeff and Greg Lenburg his autobiography, Not Just a Stooge, for Excelsior Books.

* In the film This Is Spinal Tap, the heavy metal rock band Spinal Tap's replacement drummer is named Joe " Mama " Besser, most likely a reference to Besser's role as a replacement Stooge as well as the insult " Yo mama.

* Not Just a Stooge ( later retitled Once a Stooge, Always a Stooge ) by Joe Besser with Jeff Lenburg and Greg Lenburg, ( Knightsbridge Publishing Co., 1990 ).

" I usually played the kind of character who would hit others back ," Besser recalled.

Besser and the UCB currently perform several times a week at the Los Angeles theater, most notably in their long-running hit improv show ASSSSCAT 3000 every Sunday night.

") Besser recalled, " I usually played the kind of character who would hit others back.

Larry and Joe Besser, as " The Original Two-Man Quartet ," serenade Moe in the 1957 short Guns a Poppin!

Although Moe had legal approval to allow new members into the act, Columbia executives had 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.

Moe Howard and Larry Fine discussed plans to tour with a live act, but Besser declined.

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.

Beginning with 1959's Have Rocket, Will Travel, these films starred Moe, Larry and Joe DeRita, who joined the group after the deaths of both Curly and Shemp Howard and the departure of comedian Joe Besser.

Under the guidance of new coach Nikola Pilić, after over three months away from the tour due to injury, Dokic qualified for a $ 10, 000 tournament and reached the semifinals of the main draw before losing to Astrid Besser 3 – 6, 6 – 3, 7 – 6.

Columbia Pictures hired Besser away from the Shuberts, and Besser relocated to Hollywood in 1944, where he brought his unique comic character to feature-length musical comedies like Hey, Rookie and Eadie Was a Lady.