14 (1935-49) plus several remakes
Refined society matron, quintessential party quest
Vulnerable dowager Mrs. Van Bustle (Crash Goes the Hash, 1944); opera-loving patron of the arts Mrs. Bixby (Micro-Phonies, 1945); blue-blooded partygoer Mrs. Smythe Smythe(Half-Wits Holiday, 1947)
Symona Boniface's characters epitomized upper-crust dignity, ladies who expected to live free from the hazard of flying cream pies.
They projected an air of pleasant refinement, delighted in attending the fanciest balls, were ready to presume that fellow party guests possessed pedigree equal to their own…despite whatever strange behavior those guests might otherwise display.
Yet there was Boniface's Mrs. Smythe Smythe in Half-Wits Holiday, on the receiving end of desserts never intended for an aristocrat's face.
Stooge fans remember Boniface for one scene above all others. In Half-Wits Holiday, as she attempts to calm a jittery Moe (who knows that a dangling pie is about to fall from the ceiling), a concerned Boniface tells Moe, “Young man, you act as if the Sword of Damocles were hanging over your head!” “Lady,” Moe replies, “you must be psychic…”
Even after the pie hits Boniface square in the kisser, we realize Moe was right. She was a lady.
Boniface died in California in 1950.
56 (1936-54) plus several remakes.
Unlimited
Decapitation specialist Dr. D. Lerious (From Nurse to Worse, 1940); hardboiled police captain Mullins (Shivering Sherlocks, 1948); shifty attorney I. Fleecem (Heavenly Daze, 1948); diabolical jewel thief/doorman Hassan Ben Sober (Malice in the Palace, 1949)
At some point during each of their films, the Stooges collide with an obstacle that threatens their very existence. More often than not, that obstacle is Vernon Dent.
Straight man extraordinaire, Dent had don't-mess-with-me eyes and a regal air that cloaked a quick-fuse temper. Whether he portrayed a medieval king or a gritty detective, Dent projected the demeanor of a man who desired nothing more than to be left alone.
Dent's genius lay in his ability to plummet from grace at the slightest provocation. His characters did not suffer fools kindly, but his attempts to deal with the Stooges were often more injurious to himself than to them. A master of restraint, Dent always allowed the audience to realize that he was doomed without ever appearing to know it himself. That is the mark of the consummate straight man.
There was no character Dent could not play. He could be silly, gruff, boastful, or bashful. Even more impressive was his ability to transition seamlessly between personalities; his kings were as believable rewarding the Stooges as they were ordering their executions moments later. Watch Dent shift gears in Shivering Sherlocks when his line of merciless interrogation is flipped by Shemp, or study his facial expressions in Squareheads of the Round Table as Shemp unknowingly insults him. The Stooges were lucky to work so closely with so gifted a talent.
Dent died suddenly from a heart attack in 1963 at age sixty-eight.
50 (1934-44)
Policeman and butlers
Jovial Confederate Colonel Buttz (Uncivil Warriors, 1935); furious French trapper Pierre (Whoops, I'm an Indian!, 1936); backslapping, heavy-brogued beat cop Officer O'Halloran (Mutts to You, 1938)
Jamison was the first great Stooge character actor and a master of foreign accents. The jumbo-sized Jamison was deadliest when playing authority figures who were just a smidgen too trusting. His hearty belly laugh and thick Southern drawl as Colonel Buttz made it seem only national that he would reveal Confederate military secrets to the crafty Major Hyde (Curly) in Uncivil Warriors. His ruddy disposition as Irish beat cop Officer O'Halloran in Mutts to You explains why he became so smitten with fetching neighborhood lass Mrs. O'Toole (Curly, disguised and wanted for kidnapping).
Jamison was a Christian Scientist who reportedly refused medication upon falling ill at age fifty. He died in 1944 in Hollywood.
22 (1944-50) plus several remakes
Unlimited
Reluctant opera star Alice Bixby (Micro-Phonies, 1945); gorgeous speakeasy dame Nell (three films); thunder-fisted Miss Hopkins (Brideless Groom, 1947); biddy-to-beauty fountain of youth beneficiary Serena Flint (All Gummed Up, 1947); crooning, lovesick Princess Elaine (Squareheads of the Round Table, 1948)
When Columbia producers hired Christine McIntyre, no one expected anything more than another sweet-faced, curvy blonde-haired woman as background ornamentation.
She made them think otherwise in a hurry. Even in brief early roles, it was clear that behind the angelic cheekbones lay a woman with a flawless sense of timing and an uncanny instinct for comic counterpoint. In the course of a few years, McIntyre became a fan favorite and developed into one of the great comedic actresses of all time.
McIntyre had no weaknesses. She was as capable playing the damsel in distress as she was playing the homicidal foreign spy, as comfortable batting an eyelash as throwing a roundhouse punch. Her allure was neither innocent nor vampy; there is not a single McIntyre character that gets by solely on looks or without a potent dose of wit and opinion. McIntyre was a modern woman long before it was fashionable.
McIntyre graduated from Chicago Musical College and used her lovely soprano in films like Micro-Phonies (to sing “Voices of Spring”) and Squareheads of the Round Table (in an aching duet with Cedric the Blacksmith). However, more important, the training seemed to have stamped her with an impeccable sense of rhythm and timing. McIntyre's interplay with detective Shemp in Who Done It? While each tries to poison the others drink is a masterpiece of finesse and nuance between two comic actors at the top of their games.
McIntyre made films with the Stooges and other Columbia short-feature artists until 1954, when she married radio pioneer J. Donald Wilson. She died of cancer in California in 1984.
32 (1947-65) including feature films
Unlimited
Curmudgeonly landlord Amos Flint (All Gummed Up, 1947); embattled justice of the peace J.M. Benton (Brideless Groom, 1947); jittery murder target Old Man Goodrich (Who Done It?, 1949); Shemp's wealthy uncle Phineas Bowman (Gents in a Jam, 1952)
Emil Sitka seemed always to wobble and warble. Whether playing a savvy lawyer, a grumpy landlord, or a jittery inventor, Sitka infused his character' psyches with disorienting ribbons of doubt and a perpetual shadow of suspicion.
Sitka had the funniest eyes in Stoogedom. Even when he did not speak, his darting pupils seemed to foretell the chaos that would inevitably unfold before him. His ability to remain stoic and stately while playing butlers caught in pie fight crossfires is legendary.
Sitka is the only character actor to appear with all four incarnations of the Stooges (Moe and Larry plus Curly, Shemp, Joe, and Curly Joe). His first film-and Curly's last was Half-Wits Holiday (1947), and his career continued until The Outlaws Is Coming (1965).
Sitka is undoubtedly best known for his role as dumbstruck justice of the peace J.M. Benton in Bridleless Groom. Struggling to overcome violent objections by a horde of women who demand to marry Shemp, Benton's warbling nuptials can still be heard above the din of slaps and punches: “Hold hands, you lovebirds!”
Emil Sitka died in 1998.