Three Stooges Trivia Quiz

Answer a series of forehead-slapping anecdotal factoids. It's up to you to weigh each fact in each anecdotal factoid. They're tricky. One might seem like total B.S. until it's revealed to be strangely and disturbingly "True." Another anecdotal factoid might seem to contain all solid and verifiable facts until it's revealed to be yet one more big fat garden variety "Bald-Faced Lie." And here's the trickiest part: an anecdotal factoid might even be "Half-True"; in other words, a mishmosh of truths and bald-faced lies, where you don't know where one ends and the other begins, much like the usual slop served by Madison Avenue, Washington D.C., and the Internet in its entirety.

Category: Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk It's a Three Stooges Quiz

Decide for yourself, and mark "T" for "Truth", "F" for "Bald-Faced Lie" or "TF" for "Half-Truth" in the blank slot next to each factoid.

The answers will be revealed on the next page.

1) __ In 1947, Larry and all three Howard brothers, Moe, Shemp, and Curly, appeared together in only one short, "Hold That Lion."

2) __ In 1949, the Three Stooges shot a half-hour television pilot in front of a live studio audience. It was called "Jerks of All Trades." It never aired and the original kinescope copy was lost for decades.

3) __ Vaudevillian Ted Healy discovered the Three Stooges and incorporated them into his act. In the early thirties, Healy actually performed with three different Stooge acts: Larry, Moe, and Shemp; Mousie Garner, Jack Wolf, and Dick Hakens; and Joe Besser, Billy Gilbert, and Ben Blue.

4) __ In 1955, Shemp Howard died, leaving behind four partially finished Stooge episodes. Shemp's body double, Joe Palma, became an unofficial Stooge, standing in for him and completing the four shorts that Shemp had contracted for.

5) __ In the seventies, surviving Stooge Moe Howard was planning on reviving the Three Stooges with fifties television stars Sid Caesar and Howard Morris.

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Here are the answers for Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk It's a Three Stooges Quiz

Answers:

A reminder: "T" is for "Truth", "F" is for "Bald-Faced Lie" or "TF" is for "Half-Truth".

1) T: It's true that Larry and all three Howard brothers, Moe, Shemp, and Curly, only appeared together in one short. In 1946, Curly had left the group after a series of strokes. A year later, at the urging of Moe, Curly made a cameo appearance in "Hold That Lion." Note that you'd have to look close because Curly has long hair in this brief appearance as a passenger on a train.

2) T: It's true that the Three Stooges shot a half-hour television pilot in front of a live studio audience. The original kinescope copy was found in the seventies and was recently released as part of a "Lost Stooges" DVD collection.

3) TF: This anecdote is both true and false. It's true that Ted Healy discovered the Three Stooges and incorporated them into his act. It's also true that Healy performed with different Stooge acts including Larry, Moe, and Shemp; and Mousie Garner, Jack Wolf, and Dick Hakens. It's false that Joe Besser, Billy Gilbert, and Ben Blue were ever part of his act.

4) T: It's true that Shemp's body double, Joe Palma, stood in for him after his death and completed the four shorts that Shemp had contracted for.

5) F: It's false that Moe Howard planned on reviving the Three Stooges with fifties television stars Sid Caesar and Howard Morris. Surviving Stooge Curly Joe De Rita planned on reviving the act in the seventies with frequent Stooge foil Emil Sitka, but De Rita also died

Sources:

http://www.threestooges.com/bios/bios.asp?intStoogeID=1

http://www.threestooges.com/bios/bios.asp?intStoogeID=4

http://www.threestooges.com/bios/bios.asp?intStoogeID=6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Healy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Stooges

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0397219/bio

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002935/bio

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0397602/bio