- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJoseph Besser
- Height1.63 m
- Joe Besser was born on August 12, 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri. Short, chubby, balding, childish character actor who began his career on the vaudeville circuit before breaking into films in the early 1930s. He was a frequent foil of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in their films and played Stinky on their 1950s situation comedy. Joe joined The Three Stooges in 1956, but quit the team to be with his ailing wife in 1958. He spent the 1960s appearing in numerous films and television series, including 88 performances on The Joey Bishop Show (1961) and a regular role as the voice of Babu on the animated series Jeannie (1973). Joe Besser died at age 80 of heart failure on March 1, 1988 in North Hollywood, California.- IMDb mini biography by: Michael J. Bauman <mbauman@acsu.buffalo.edu>
- SpouseErna Kay(November 18, 1932 - March 1, 1988) (his death)
- ChildrenNo Children
- ParentsMorris BesserFannie Fecht Besser
- RelativesMolly Besser Rosenfeld(Sibling)Gertrude Helen Besser Tobias(Sibling)Florence Besser Miller(Sibling)
- His ability to play young children although he was a middle aged man
- His favorite comedians were Jack Benny, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, and Ann Miller is his choice for actress.
- He began his career in show business as a song plugger for a St. Louis-based music company, and later became a comedy assistant to the great magician Howard Thurston.
- A producer asked famed voice actress June Foray if she knew someone who could do a Joe Besser voice. June responded, "Well, why don't you call Joe Besser?" The verbal exchange made it into Hal Humphreys' newspaper column. Joe later met June Foray in a jewelry store. Besser embraced Foray and said, "June, you saved my career. I was hired for big job I never would have gotten.".
- When Columbia shut down its shorts department, The Three Stooges were forced to take the act on the road, and Besser was invited to go. However, he refused because he had to be home to take care of his sick wife. He was not fired as the legend has it.
- Was the only member of The Three Stooges to use his actual birth name in the act. All of the other Stooges, and even Ted Healy, used stage or Americanized names.
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