Joe DeRita; Last Surviving Member of the Three Stooges

Joe (Curly Joe) DeRita, 83, the lone survivor of the Three Stooges, died Saturday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills after a bout of pneumonia, a family member said.

DeRita joined Moe Howard and Larry Fine in 1959 as a third replacement for the original Curly.

The Three Stooges of Columbia Pictures fame--Moe Howard; his brother, Curly (Jerome Lester Howard); and Larry Fine--made more than 200 short films in the 1930s and 1940s. Jerome’s death in 1952 after a series of strokes thrust the persona of the short, stocky Curly into upheaval.

He was first replaced by Shemp, another Howard brother, and then by Joe Besser. In 1959, DeRita came on the scene.

DeRita, who got his vaudeville start at age 8 with the Dancing DeRitas, was the man that Moe and Larry wanted after Besser left the act.

When his contract wit the Harold Minsky show in Las Vegas expired, he joined the Stooges. Their first stage show, in Barstow, was “a total flop,” said Robert Benjamin, DeRita’s stepson. But the act soon picked up, and the new trio played fairs, performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and completed a handful of feature-length films, including “Snow White and the Three Stooges,” “Have Rocket Will Travel” and “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.”

The trio also completed a pilot for “Kook’s Tour,” a proposed TV series. Larry and Moe died in 1975, Benjamin said.

DeRita was born in Philadelphia and lived most of his life in the Los Angeles area, most recently in Burbank, Benjamin said. He traveled through Europe and Japan performing for troops during World War II.

Benjamin said he will remember his stepfather as forever making jokes.

“Joe used to love to torment waiters,” Benjamin said. “He couldn’t stop being a comedian.”

Benjamin, who said he was a 20-year-old hippie wearing love beads at the time, recalled an incident in the 1960s.

“Joe went into the garage and came out with a bunch of spark plugs and wrenches around his neck. He said, ‘These are my love beads,’ ” Benjamin said. “He was very kind-hearted. He helped me out on so many occasions.”

DeRita spent two years at the Woodland Hills retirement home and hospital after a series of strokes made it too difficult for his wife to care for him, Benjamin said.

In addition to Robert Benjamin, he is survived by his wife, Jean DeRita, and stepson Earl Benjamin. The family has requested that any donations go to the Motion Picture and Television Fund in lieu of flowers. Funeral arrangements were pending.