[njslim]

Actually they replaced Curly (real name Jerome) after he
suffered a disabling stroke in 1946 with Shemp (his brother
aka Samuel). Shemp died of massive heart attack in 1954
Was replaced first by Joe Besser aka Curly Joe then by
Joe De Rita for the 3 Stooges films

[Richard Kimball]

And, Shemp was actually a Stooge before Curly. He left the team to do other acting stuff. Curly was a big hit, and Shemp didn't come back until Curly had a stroke.

Curly is the only reason the Stooges are remembered.

I wasted an entire summer trying to figure out how to make the sound Curly made when he thumped his neck with his fingers. It wasn't until about ten years after I'd grown up that I saw an episode and realized they'd put in the sound of wood blocks.