Topic: So... Which Three Stooges actors/actresses are still alive?

[QuinceHead]

Hey everyone!

First post here, so I hope it's not a duplicate and/or too morbid for ya, but here goes...

I was wondering if anybody has a definitive list of which Three Stooges actors and actresses are still alive?

I realize that anyone from the 1930s is going to be rather unlikely (aside from, say, Joan Howard Maurer, Moe's daughter, who was one of the jump rope girls in one short), but a fair amount of people from the Curly Joe movie era should still be around, yes?

Any and all assistance is most appreciated!

For duty and humanity,
JohnH
aka QuinceHead

[JazzBill]

Hey everyone!

First post here, so I hope it's not a duplicate and/or too morbid for ya, but here goes...

I was wondering if anybody has a definitive list of which Three Stooges actors and actresses are still alive?

I realize that anyone from the 1930s is going to be rather unlikely (aside from, say, Joan Howard Maurer, Moe's daughter, who was one of the jump rope girls in one short), but a fair amount of people from the Curly Joe movie era should still be around, yes?

Any and all assistance is most appreciated!

For duty and humanity,
JohnH
aka QuinceHead

Look at the top of the page and find "Stooge Info". Hit the Cast Members link and you'll find what you're looking for.

[FineBari3]

Back in 2007, there was a large gathering of Stooge supporting actresses. This was at the Ray Court's collector's show in Burbank.  There may be some photographs in the gallery section, but I don't know. Maybe I'll post some.

The actresses I can remember right now are Arlene Hunter, Diana Darrin, Sylvia Lewis, Gloria Patrice, Nita Bieber, Joan Howard Maurer, Patricia Wright, Virginia Hunter, Beverly Warren, Nancy Saunders, and Adrian Booth Brian.

It is safe to say that almost all of the men are gone.

[QuinceHead]

Back in 2007, there was a large gathering of Stooge supporting actresses. This was at the Ray Court's collector's show in Burbank.  There may be some photographs in the gallery section, but I don't know. Maybe I'll post some.

The actresses I can remember right now are Arlene Hunter, Diana Darrin, Sylvia Lewis, Gloria Patrice, Nita Bieber, Joan Howard Maurer, Patricia Wright, Virginia Hunter, Beverly Warren, Nancy Saunders, and Adrian Booth Brian.

It is safe to say that almost all of the men are gone.

Thanks for the info!   

It's pretty amazing to think that some of these ladies are in their nineties and still doing well.

Should I presume that Larry Fine's daughter (who was the other jump rope girl along with Joan Howard Maurer) is no longer with us?   

And as far as male Three Stooges actors, wasn't Adam West in one of the 1960s movies?

For duty and humanity,
JohnH
aka QuinceHead

[FineBari3]

Thanks for the info!   

It's pretty amazing to think that some of these ladies are in their nineties and still doing well.

Should I presume that Larry Fine's daughter (who was the other jump rope girl along with Joan Howard Maurer) is no longer with us?   

And as far as male Three Stooges actors, wasn't Adam West in one of the 1960s movies?

For duty and humanity,
JohnH
aka QuinceHead

I'm going to have to post a picture here! I'm going to have to scan it first.

I thought that the group at the 2007 show looked great; a couple of the women looked fantastic. Those women looked better than any of the old stars that were there that had either bad work done or too much make-up on.

There was a reunion of actors from THE OUTLAWS IS COMING at the Fan Club Meeting in 2005, but Adam West wasn't there. I'm sure he gets invited to the meeting....

I just meant that there weren't any men left from the Columbia Shorts period. As in life, a lot of men pass on many years earlier than women, especially back then.

I don't remember when Larry's daughter passed away, but I'm sure somebody does off-hand here.

[BeAStooge]

Larry Fine's daughter (who was the other jump rope girl along with Joan Howard Maurer) is no longer with us?   

Phyllis Fine, d. 1989

[BeAStooge]

I was wondering if anybody has a definitive list of which Three Stooges actors and actresses are still alive?

A couple-years-old list previously posted by Gary Lassin & Frank Reighter; edited for interim passings, and new contacts. Not definitive, but essentially accurate.

From the Columbia shorts:
Nita Bieber
Lorraine Crawford
Diana Darrin
Maury Dexter
Vanda Dupre
Joyce Gardner
Julie Gibson
Lorna Gray (Adrian Booth Brian)
Marilyn Hanold
Arline Hunter
Virginia Hunter
Marjorie Jackson
Sylvia Lewis
Joan Maurer
Royce Milne
Bek Nelson
Kathleen O'Malley
Gloria Patrice
Betty Phares
Rebel Randall
Nancy Saunders
Angela Stevens
Laverne Thompson
Greta Thyssen
Beverly Warren
Sethma Williams
David Windsor
Patricia Wright

From the 1960's:
Samson Burke
Robert Colbert
Joan Freeman
Hal Fryar
Johnny Ginger
Carol Heiss
Rex Holman
Margaret Kerry
Lloyd Kino
Nancy Kovack
Anna Lisa
Don Lamond
Michael Maurer
Patricia Medina
Quinn Redeker
Jeffrey Scott
Bruce Sedley
Sally Starr
Edson Stroll
Vicki Trickett
Jane Wald
Adam West

[metaldams]

So in other words, one surviving male from the Columbia shorts, an uncredited Union soldier in UNCIVIL WARBIRDS.  Wow.

[BeAStooge]

So in other words, one surviving male from the Columbia shorts, an uncredited Union soldier in UNCIVIL WARBIRDS.  Wow.

Maury Dexter played the 'Southern Gentleman,' not one of the soldiers. If his name is familiar to anyone, he became a director and worked often with Michael Landon on LITTLE HOUSE and HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN.

The lists do not contain any actors or actresses who are still being researched. For example, we do not have information on Jackie Jackson (THREE LOAN WOLVES) or the baby in MUTTS TO YOU.

[garystooge]

The lists do not contain any actors or actresses who are still being researched.

We actually just got a hot lead on actress Faye Williams who also appeared in Uncivil Warbirds and we hope to track her down shortly.
Gary

[BeAStooge]

A couple-years-old list previously posted by Gary Lassin & Frank Reighter; edited for interim passings, and new contacts. Not definitive, but essentially accurate.

From the Columbia shorts:
Nita Bieber
Lorraine Crawford
Diana Darrin
Maury Dexter
Vanda Dupre
Joyce Gardner
Julie Gibson
Lorna Gray (Adrian Booth Brian)
Marilyn Hanold
Arline Hunter
Virginia Hunter
Marjorie Jackson
Sylvia Lewis
Joan Maurer
Royce Milne
Bek Nelson
Kathleen O'Malley
Gloria Patrice
Betty Phares
Rebel Randall
Nancy Saunders
Angela Stevens
Laverne Thompson
Greta Thyssen
Beverly Warren
Sethma Williams
David Windsor
Patricia Wright

From the 1960's:
Samson Burke
Robert Colbert
Joan Freeman
Hal Fryar
Johnny Ginger
Carol Heiss
Rex Holman
Margaret Kerry
Lloyd Kino
Nancy Kovack
Anna Lisa
Don Lamond
Michael Maurer
Patricia Medina
Quinn Redeker
Jeffrey Scott
Bruce Sedley
Sally Starr
Edson Stroll
Vicki Trickett
Jane Wald
Adam West

Others still living, who performed with The Three Stooges -


Martin Sperzel, singing bartender from BEER AND PRETZELS (1933)

From the Shemp era
 - Rose Marie and Yogi Berra, TEXACO STAR THEATRE appearances (1950)
 - Alan Young, THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW (1952) and THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR (1951)
 - Although we know that the Stooges performed on the 1952 OLYMPIC FUND TELETHON, and they appeared on camera with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, we do not know what their sketch was about, nor who else may have performed with them... living celebrities also on that telethon include Tony Curtis, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jerry Lewis and Margaret O'Brien

From the DeRita era
 - Pat Harrington Jr., Bill Dana and Jayne Meadows, STEVE ALLEN SHOW skits (1959)
 - James Karen, Met Life commercial (1967)
 - Russell Arms, Dickie Work Clothes commercial (1969)
 - Regis Philbin, JOEY BISHOP SHOW co-host (1967 - 1969 talk show)
 - Maureen O'Hara, Stuart Goetz, Frankie Avalon, Nancy Sinatra and Joanie Sommers, OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD: Who's Afraid of Mother Goose? (1967)
 - Bob Barker, TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES (1969)
 - Johnny Mathis, SUNDAY SHOWCASE: The Frances Langford Show (1960)
 - Tim Conway, Bill Cosby and Spike Jones Jr., DANNY THOMAS MEETS THE COMICS: What Makes People Laugh? (1965)
 - Mimi Hines, THE MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW [week's] co-host (1964)
 - Cary, Tina and Eileen Brown, THE NEW 3 STOOGES (1965); Margaret Kerry & Dick Brown's children
 - Eric Lamond, THE NEW 3 STOOGES (1965)

Until last week, Jimmy Dean would have been on the list. He was guest host the night the Stooges appeared on THE TONIGHT SHOW in July 1962.

[JazzBill]

Thats incredible that Martin Sperzel is still with us. I remember a couple of years ago there was some thought that Frances McCoy from "Soup To Nuts" might still alive but that turned out to be not true.

[BeAStooge]

Thats incredible that Martin Sperzel is still with us.

Martin is the last surviving member of The Sportsmen Quartet, of Jack Benny's radio and TV shows. Recently celebrated # 97, and lives in Sherman Oaks.

[Hammond Eggar]

I take it we're not including the cast members of my favorite film ever, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  If we are, then here are a few more people who are still with us.

SID CAESAR
MICKEY ROONEY
JONATHAN WINTERS
CARL REINER
JERRY LEWIS
STAN FREBERG
PETER FALK
MARVIN KAPLAN
BARRIE CHASE
JOHN CLARKE
NICHOLAS GEORGIADE

Hey BeAStooge.  You mentioned Martin Sperzel.  I, too, am impressed and pleased to know he's still with us.  Has he ever been contacted about attending a convention or fan club meeting?  That would be fantastic!

[Rich Finegan]

You mentioned Martin Sperzel.  I, too, am impressed and pleased to know he's still with us.  Has he ever been contacted about attending a convention or fan club meeting?  That would be fantastic!

Or at least an interview?
Also, I belong to an Old-Time Radio Club that would be thrilled to contact and interview him.

[garystooge]

We actually just got a hot lead on actress Faye Williams who also appeared in Uncivil Warbirds and we hope to track her down shortly.

Just to update, we can now confirm that actress Faye Williams is indeed still alive.  Unfortunately, her health will not permit her to travel to Philly.
Gary

[FineBari3]

Just to update, we can now confirm that actress Faye Williams is indeed still alive.  Unfortunately, her health will not permit her to travel to Philly.
Gary

Aw...that's too bad.

[falsealarms]

Tracking down these people is nothing short of fascinating... and make for riveting Journal reads.

Like the search for Queenie from SOUP TO NUTS

You know Queenie:

[Hammond Eggar]

Thanks to Wikipedia, I just learned that Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters is still alive.  She is 92 and lives quietly in Northridge, California with her husband of over 55 years.  Of course, the Andrews Sisters appeared with Shemp in such solo films as Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates, In the Navy and Hold That Ghost.  What a treat to know that one of the wonderful Andrews Sisters is still with us.

[BeAStooge]

... we do not have information on Jackie Jackson (THREE LOAN WOLVES).

Frank Reighter's research has confirmed that Jackie Jackson is alive.

[Hammond Eggar]

Frank Reighter's research has confirmed that Jackie Jackson is alive.

Oh, that's great news.  So, there's still one actor alive who worked with the boys during the Curly era.  Fantastic.  How old is he now, and is he available for a fan club meeting?

[BeAStooge]

Frank Reighter has learned that supporting actress Rebel Randall died July 22, 2010 in Riverside County, CA.

He'll have additional details in a future Three Stooges Journal obit and/or bio.


From Frank...

I have been as in-touch as anyone with Rebel Randall over the years. In the last few years she has been under the care of Riverside County California (For various reasons I'll probably cover in a future Journal obit or article).

A distant relative of hers, John Thompson, of Bull Shoals, Arkansas, called me tonight, saying someone had told him that Rebel was deceased, and could I confirm it? My search found nothing for Rebel Randall, but a further search under her birth name, Alaine C. Brandes, found her listed in the Social Security Death Index as being born Jan. 22, 1922 (Cook County [Chicago], Illinois), and dying in Riverside County, California July 22, 2010. Her Social Security number was issued in Illinois before 1951.

She was a sweet lady who always remembered Phyllis' name when we talked on the telephone, but always had some "Conspiracy Theory" that she was a part of. She hated going to Court, which caused her to have all her assets "Frozen" by the Court, and thereby, preventing the State of California from treating her as an
indigent, and denying her financial assistance.

I will miss all those stories, and her friendship.

[Moron4392]

Just would like to stick in my 2 cents if you do not mind.  One glad to hear that one the Andrews Sisters is alive, I grew up with their music and am still a fan of their music.  The Andrews Sisters also apperared in three more Shemp Solo Features, not mentioned:  "How's About It?, "Moonlight and Cactus," and "Private Buckaroo," {Along here with "Harry James And His Music Makers"}.

Thank-you

Thompson 

[BeAStooge]

Frank Reighter reports that supporting actress Faye Williams of UNCIVIL WAR BIRDS (1946) died earlier today, October 12, 2010 in Texas.

[QuinceHead]

Frank Reighter reports that supporting actress Faye Williams of UNCIVIL WAR BIRDS (1946) died earlier today, October 12, 2010 in Texas.

Aw, crap!       And after you guys went through so much effort to track her down and make sure she was still around . . . 

For duty and humanity,
JohnH aka QuinceHead