Joe DeRita, the last living member of the Three Stooges comedy team, died Saturday morning after a sudden attack of pneumonia, his family announced. He was 83.
DeRita, a longtime North Hollywood resident known to fans of the slapstick comedy trio as "Curly Joe," died at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, where he had been a patient for the past two years, said his stepson, Robert Benjamin. North Hollywood and Woodland Hills are communities in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.In 1959, he joined Moe Howard and Larry Fine in the third banana role that had been held by a succession of others, including Curly Howard, Shemp Howard and Joe Besser.
DeRita started his show business career as a child actor, performing in vaudeville, in movies and on stage in Las Vegas, Benjamin said.
While DeRita did not appear in any of the nearly 200 short films that made the Stooges popular, he did appear in six feature films and other productions for more than 10 years, said Gary Lassin, president of the Three Stooges Fan Club.
"He's not the most popular Stooge, but I think he was significant," Lassin said last month, before DeRita died.
DeRita is survived by his wife, Jean DeRita, and his stepsons, Robert and Earl Benjamin.
Funeral arrangements are pending. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, 23388 Mulholland Drive, Woodland Hills, CA 91364.