Over the years, there has been much debate regarding whether or not Jerome Horwitz Elementary School—the school attended by the main characters of the widely loved children book, “Captain Underpants”—was named after Jerome Horwitz, the famed scientist, or Jerome ‘Curly Howard’ Horwitz, the birth name of the popular Stooge.
However, the truth is revealed within the very pages of the book itself. Upon reading the ‘Fun Facts’ section of “The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Captain Underpants #1),” one will readily discover ‘Fun Fact #4,’ which gives the answer to the mystery behind the school’s name: “Jerome Horwitz Elementary School was named after “Curly,” one of the Three Stooges (another show Dav Pilkey watched every day as a child). Curly’s real name was Jerome Horwitz.”
Stooges Lost in Foreign Translation
Interestingly enough, The Three Stooges, when directly translated into different languages around the world, holds some very different, often strange meanings. For instance, in China, the Stooge trio is idiomatically known as either Sānge Chòu Píjiàng or Huóbǎo Sānrénzǔ. The direct translation of The Three Stooges? The ‘Three Smelly Shoemakers.’
Equally as strange, when translated into Japanese, the Three Stooges are known as San Baka Taishō, otherwise known as ‘Three Idiot Generals.’ Even stranger is the Spanish translation: ‘Los tres chiflados’, which roughly translates to, ‘The Three Crackpots.’
And The Award Goes To…
Although the Stooges were nominated for an Oscar, unfortunately they did not win the honor of receiving this honored title. However, in 1993, The Three Stooges did go on to earn a different award: the MTV lifetime achievement award. An award created in order to honor those who have greatly impacted pop culture over the years, this award was announced by Mel Gibson, who, upon presenting the Stooges with the award, as a nod to the Stooges’ notoriously physical, slapstick style of comedy, preceded to hit himself on the head with an over-sized wrench.
Though this award was discontinued after 1998, the legacy of The Three Stooges, their prestige, and their overwhelming influence over society, still remains to this day.
Here Come The Men in Black
Though they are long gone, in addition to the original Stooge arcade game, The Three Stooges continue to live on in the form of several other, newer video games. Names of more recent Stooge games include “Dead Space” and “Batman: Arkham Asylum.”
In these games, players can hear the line “Paging Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard.” This is a subtle nod to “Men in Black,” the Academy-Award nominated, widely recognized Three Stooges short.
Committed To More Than Just The Craft
Despite Curly’s three short-lived marriages, most of the Three Stooges actors lead long, happily married lives. Joe Besser was married to Erna Kay for 56 years, Moe Howard to Helen Schonberger—cousin of the late Harry Houdini—for fifty years, Larry Fine, for forty-one loving years, with wife Mable, Shemp for close to 30 years, and Joe DeRita for 30 happy years to wife Bonnie Brooks; a marriage which lasted up until her passing.
Following her death, he went on to marry Jean Sullivan DeRita in 1966. The couple was married for 25 years, up until Joe’s death on July 3, 1993.