I think we all agree that the Three Stooges were better off leaving Ted Healy. We also agree that Shemp did well by jumping ship even earlier. Let's have a fun discussion, though I am sure this discussion has been had here before years before.
Ted Healy was a bully, a drunk, and a womanizer. In 1937, he died (how exactly varies depending on the source) after a night partying while celebrating the birth of his first son, Ted Jr., two days prior. So ended the career of a genuinely talented actor. It's interesting to note that Ted was actually younger than Shemp!
Let's suppose Ted Healy doesn't die in December 1937. We stretch plausibility even further and say he settles down and becomes a sensible business man, gives up the womanizing, and focuses on being a top actor. Alas, poor Ted's reputation sees him ditched by most companies, and in spring of 1939 he receives a phone call from his dear friend Moe Howard. Moe tells Ted that it's possible for him to get a job in the Columbia Pictures shorts department under Jules White. Ted, knowing that this is probably his last chance, takes Moe's advice, calls Jules White, and gets hired to become one of Columbia's comic actors beginning in June 1939. Over the course of the next 10-15 years, he becomes one of Columbia's regular actors.
Here's the two part question for you:
(1) Does he get his own short series or is he one of their comic foils?
(2) If he becomes a comic foil, in which Three Stooges shorts do you think he could have appeared and done well? Imagine Ted in the short instead of Bud Jamison, Vernon Dent, or Dick Curtis.
