Curly by Joan Howard Maurer & Michael Jackson

Author:Joan Howard Maurer & Michael Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2013-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

Publicity still from Flat Foot Stooges (Columbia, 1938).

Curly gives his customer a “pet-icure” in Mutts to You (1938).

Moe and Curly backstage in a dressing room at Columbia (1938).

Reminiscing about Curly with Elaine refreshed my memory about other humorous stories that my father had told me of their trip to Europe. In the spring of 1939, the Stooges signed a contract for an extended vaudeville tour of England and its provinces, including a two-week stint at the famous London Palladium.

Several weeks before his departure on the Queen Mary, Curly was worried about being a poor sailor and told Moe of his fear of getting seasick. Moe, who had done a lot of fishing in Sheepshead Bay, reassured Curly, insisting that he come out for a ride with him in the bay. They’d rent a rowboat and he’d get used to the water. For good measure, Moe would test an old seaman’s formula he had heard about and would wrap Curly in wet newspapers. Curly thought he was nuts and refused. Their rowboat ride went without incident, and Curly was positive the wet-newspaper bit was an old wives’ tale. Once aboard the Queen Mary, amidst the pitching and rolling of the high seas, Curly got violently ill. He raced throughout the ship, collecting newspapers, wetting them, and wrapping himself up like a fat mummy. But the old seaman’s cure was either ineffective or too late, and his nausea continued sporadically throughout most of the Atlantic crossing.

When the boat docked in England, Curly was amazed at their fabulous reception. He never realized that their films had preceded them for the past five years and that their British fans were legion. A few days later, in a scene reminiscent of Atlantic City and Curly’s problem with youthful fans, a group of pink-cheeked London lads leaped onto Curly and, before he knew what was happening, tore the pockets from his coat, grabbed his hat, and dashed off with their Curly souvenirs.

It is interesting to note that in the Irish language the word stooge is a slang term for intercourse, and throughout Ireland the boys were billed as the Three Hooges.

The tour was extremely successful, despite the fact that World War II began while they were in England and the entire country went on a wartime footing. The Stooges returned to the States on the Queen Mary’s last voyage before being converted to a troop ship. Immediately upon their arrival in New York, they started rehearsals for the Broadway musical George White’s Scandals.

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