Filmed in 1946 but held over until January of 1947, Half-Wits Holiday proved a rather sad occasion for the Three Stooges. A remake of the earlier Hoi Polloi, in which a professor wages that he can turn the three dimwits into perfect gentlemen. Sadly, Curly Howard, who had been ailing all year, suffered a stroke on the last day of filming. Supporting actor Emil Sitka, who made his debut with the team in this film, remembered: "No one -- including Moe, Larry, and Jules White -- ever told us how serious his condition was. It was only after the picture had been completed that I found out he took ill." Producer/director White managed to finish the last scene -- the inevitable pie-fight featuring the Stooges' main victim Symona Boniface (as Mrs. Smythe-Smythe) -- by dividing the action between Moe Howard and Larry Fine and inserting reaction shots of the various bystanders. Curly Howard never returned to the series as a member of the team -- he later agreed to a couple of cameos while visiting his former workplace -- and was replaced by brother Shemp. Perhaps the most beloved Stooge, Jerome "Curly" Howard died at the young age of 48 in 1952. false 2017-10-04 14:07:14 0 1947 18 /var/lib/emby/metadata/library/af/afb9b2c4cdb13e5625b042bfc900d04c/poster.jpg Shemp Howard Shemp Actor https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/b6L3kV2qnputHSsd7uYirjKEMBC.jpg Moe Howard Moe Actor https://www.thetvdb.com/banners/actors/70133.jpg Larry Fine Larry Actor https://www.thetvdb.com/banners/actors/70128.jpg 1 14 1947-01-09