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Larry Fine
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===Three Stooges features=== {{Further|The Three Stooges}} [[File:Three Stooges 1937.jpg|thumb|Fine, [[Curly Howard]], and [[Moe Howard]] in 1937]] [[File:Sing a Song of Six Pants (1947) 2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Fine in ''[[Sing a Song of Six Pants]]'' in 1947]] [[File:Malice in the Palace.JPG|thumb|right|Fine (right) with [[Moe Howard]] and his brother [[Shemp Howard]] in ''[[Malice in the Palace]]'' in 1949]] [[File:Larry Fine in a promotional image from 1962.png|thumb|Fine in 1962]] Beginning in 1934, [[The Three Stooges]] set about making 206 short films and several features, their most prolific period starring Fine, Moe Howard, and Curly Howard. Their career with Healy was marked by disputes over pay, film contracts, and Healy's drinking and verbal abuse. Fine and the Howard brothers finally left Healy for good in 1934.<ref name=Scrapbookrev>{{cite book| last = Maurer| first = Joan Howard| author-link = Joan Howard Maurer|author2=Jeff Lenburg |author3=Greg Lenburg | title = The Three Stooges Scrapbook| publisher = Citadel Press| orig-year = 1982 |year=2012|edition=revised| isbn = 978-1-61374-074-3 | url =http://a.co/cYoBoxO}}</ref> In films from the Curly era, the Larry character did more reacting than acting, staying in the background and serving as the voice of reason in contrast to the zany antics of Moe and Curly. He was a [[surrealistic]] foil and the middle ground between Moe's gruffly "bossy" and Curly's childish personae. Like the other Stooges, Larry was often on the receiving end of Moe's abuse. His reasonableness was the perfect foil to Moe's brusque bluntness and Curly's or Shemp's boyish immaturity, but Larry sometimes proposed something impossible or illogical and was quickly put down verbally and physically by Moe, who often pulled a handful of hair out of Larry's head.<ref name=Scrapbookrev/> Film critic [[Leonard Maltin]] wrote, "Larry is the least distinctive character of the trio, but he adds a pleasing touch by siding with either Moe or Curly, depending on the situation, thereby enabling him to show moments of lucidity as well as lunacy."<ref>{{cite book | last = Maltin | first = Leonard | author-link = Leonard Maltin | title = The Great Movie Comedians: From Charlie Chaplin to Woody Allen | publisher = CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | orig-year = 1978 |year=2015 | edition=revised | isbn = 978-1-51432-494-3 | url = http://amzn.com/1613740743}}</ref> After Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1946, Shemp replaced him in the act. The Shemp era marked a period of increased onscreen presence for Larry, who had been relegated to a background role during the Curly era. Upon Shemp's return, he was allotted equal onscreen time, even becoming the focus of several films, in particular, ''[[Fuelin' Around]]'' (1949) and ''[[He Cooked His Goose]]'' (1952).<ref name="Okuda">{{cite book| last = Okuda| first = Ted | author-link = Ted Okuda|author2=Watz, Edward | title = The Columbia Comedy Shorts| publisher = McFarland & Company| year = 1986| pages =60β102| isbn = 0-89950-181-8}}</ref> On November 22, 1955, Shemp died of a heart attack. [[Joe Palma]] doubled for Shemp in the next four films; then [[Joe Besser]] succeeded him as the third Stooge in 1956. After Columbia Pictures closed its comedy-shorts department at the end of 1957, [[Joe DeRita]] replaced Besser. In the earliest Stooge films, Larry frequently indulged in utterly nutty behavior. Fine livened scenes up with improvised remarks or ridiculous actions. In the hospital spoof ''[[Men in Black (1934 film)|Men in Black]]'' (1934), Larry, dressed as a surgeon and wielding a large kitchen knife, chortles: "Let's plug him... and see if he's ripe!" In ''[[Disorder in the Court]]'' (1936), a tense courtroom scene is interrupted by Larry breaking into a wild [[Tarzan yell]]. Of course, after each of his outbursts, Moe would gruffly put him down. According to Fine's brother, Fine developed a [[callus]] on one side of his face from being slapped so often by Moe.<ref name=Scrapbookrev/> Larry's goofiness has been described as an extension of Fine's own relaxed personality. Director [[Charles Lamont]] recalled: "Larry was a nut. He was the kind of guy who always said anything. He was a yapper."<ref name=Scrapbookrev/> Writer-director [[Edward Bernds]] remembered that Fine's suggestions for the scripts were often "flaky", but occasionally contained good comic ideas.<ref name=Scrapbookrev/> The Three Stooges became a big hit on television in 1959 when [[Columbia Pictures]] released a batch of their films, whose popularity brought them to a new audience and revitalized their careers.<ref name=Scrapbookrev/>
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