No offense to Joe DeRita, who wasn't bad as a faux Curly, Mantan Moreland would've been a classic new era for the Stooges, as unique and special in it's own way as Curly and Shemp’s eras had been earlier. Too bad, the missed opportunity. But then the same could be said of J. Carroll Nash and Ross Martin.
Theirs could've been new eras as well.
Re: Re: Re: Mantan nearly joined The Three Stooges
Actually if MANTON was chosen as a Stooge, it would have been JOE BESSER, not JOE DeRITA since Manton was supposed to replace SHEMP HOWARD. After Shemp's death, THE THREE STOOGES continued for a couple years of shorts with BESSER. JOE DeRITA joined the Stooges replacing BESSER to do FEATURE FILMS.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Mantan nearly joined The Three Stooges
Yes, but I didn't like Joe Besser. He barely registers on my scale of classic Stooges. Joe DeRita was decent, as I said, as a faux Curly. Joe Besser, in my opinion, was awful. Mantan Mooreland would've been unique with his own take on things. Oh well, it didn't happen like a successful 1950s Chan TV series with J. Carroll Nash or 1970s revival with Ross Martin. How about B.D. Wong (Law & Order SVU) as a new Charlie Chan?
