My favorite Stooge was Curly . That was when the Stooges where at their best. Of Curly replacements , Shemp wasn't bad and did have some pretty good comic moments , Joe Besser though a fine comedian and pretty good actor was just not Stooge material , he never quite seemed to mesh with Moe and Larry. Curly Joe DeRita was decent enough but he was just not Curly . It wouldn't mattered who stepped into that role , the original Curly was a simply a hard act for anyone to follow.