A Tribute to Stooges' Norman Maurer: A Creative Genius

Norman Maurer

By Greg Lenburg

Without any a doubt, Norman Maurer was a creative genius.

If you don't know who Norman Maurer is, then you should. He was The Three Stooges comic book artist, writer, director, producer and co-manager. Maurer was the creative force behind The Three Stooges best and funniest 1960s feature films, comic books and merchandise ever produced.

Since Maurer mainly worked behind the scenes, he never received the true credit nor praise he deserved...until now.

A cartoonist by trade, he, better than anyone, understood the Stooges humor. He also knew how to help them adjust their work to a new audience in the the late 1950s and in the 1960s: children...children who clamored every day to sit in front of their television sets to laugh and enjoy, over and over again, the team's 190 classic two reel comedies which were released to TV for the first time in 1958 and 1959. 

For better or for worst, the boys--who for decades were known for their roughhouse and extremely violent antics-- had to greatly tone down their humor since their bread-and-butter audience was now the kiddies. 

Born on May 13, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York, Norman's lifelong association with the Stooges began when he married Joan Howard, daughter of Stooges boss leader, Moe--the one with the sugar bowl haircut--on June 29, 1947.

Norman in his element as
a comic book cartoonist.

His cartoonist career began with him illustrating vintage Daredevil and Boy comics, among many others, for Lev Gleason Publications.

In 1947, that led him to create his first Three Stooges comic books for. Jubilee Comics, And, he did it all. He wrote, illustrated and edited these comic books with his childhood friend, Joe Kubert, who was just made editor. 

For the series, the stories were based on actual Stooges shorts! The series began in May 1947 after Maurer struck a copyrights deal with Moe, Larry Fine and Curly Howard.

Perhaps one of the most memorable comics, in my opinion, was when Norman and Kubert teamed up to invent the first 3-D comic books in 1953 for St. John Publishing which also featured the Stooges lineup of the period, Moe, Larry and Shemp Howard.

But Maurer's creative juices and business skills were really put to the test in the late 1950s. That's when he became manager of the Stooges with Moe, the team's owner, after the trio was terminated from Columbia Pictures.

Little did Norman nor the Stooges know what was around the corner for them. After the team's shorts were first released to television in 1958, instantly, they were back in demand and thrust into the limelight, riding the greatest wave popularity in the team's history.

Norman and Kubert, in 
comic book character form, 
to introduce one of The
Three Stooges comic books.

And, for the first time, with a new and last third stooge on board, Curly Joe DeRita, they were stars of six feature films from 1959 to 1965, four of which were produced by Maurer and all but one for their old studio, Columbia Pictures. (Their first, in 1959, was Have Rocket, Will Travel).

In my opinion, their two best feature films are The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963) and their last, The Outlaws IS Coming!" (1965) for which Maurer wrote the story, produced and directed. (Outlaws is my personal favorite.)

Of the six feature films, Moe's daughter, Joan, thought Curly Joe's best performances as third stooge was when he reenacted one of the team's classic routine in The Three Stooges Go Around the World a Daze. The routine (first done with Curly) was Curly Joe going berserk every time he hears Larry play Pop Goes the Weasel. The routine was first done by Curly in the team's 1934 short, Punch Drunks. 

A must-see example of Maurer's touch is in the comedy film, Who's Minding the Mint?, which he produced for Columbia in 1967, directed by Howard Morris (best remembered today as Ernest T. Bass on TV's The Andy Griffith Show). 

While Maurer didn't write the story nor direct the film, his handiwork can definitely be seen while watching it. 

As Norman explained to me, after the shooting of the film was completed,  Morris was given "first cut." That is, overseeing the editing of the film. 

When Morris dragged his feet on doing the "first cut," Maurer stepped in and oversaw the first and final edited product before it was released to theaters.

My personal favorite of the Stooges'
feature flms directed by Norman:
The Outlaws IS Coming! (1965).

While I have never professionally wrote, produced nor directed any films or TV shows, in 1982, Norman gave me the opportunity to write some story ideas for the Mork and Mindy animated cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Ruby Spears Enterprises for which he was a writer and story editor.

Eager and excited, I submitted several ideas to Norm (as Joan liked to call him). Quickly, the old maestro taught me a lesson in comedy writing which I will never forget.

On the back of a blank page of one of my story ideas, Norman drew, in bright red ink, a large arrow pointing toward the center of an equally large bullseye, His lesson:  Comedies should be propelled by the story and not the gags. The gags are the dressing. (My story idea, in part, was just the opposite. It got hung up a by the gag and didn't propel the story.)

You know, he was absolutely right.

I was grateful to Norman (and Joan) for giving me my "shot." 

Joan and Norman together in 1984
for an author photo for 
The Three Stooges Book of Scripts.

To this day, when I think of Norman Maurer, one thing comes to mind: him sitting in his office creating, writing and serving as story editor for popular Saturday morning cartoon series of the 1980s. 

Ironically, Norman died on November 23, 1986 at the age of 60 of lung cancer like Moe and, strangely, at the same age as Shemp and exactly one day after the day Shemp died (in 1955).

In addition to being a creative genius and innovator, Norman was a great husband and father, a fair minded and level headed businessman as well as multi-talented craftsman who worked well under pressure and was a true professional in every sense of the word.  

If you believe there is a heaven (and I do), Norman, with a smile on his face, is still drawing, still creating and still inventing. And, best of all, Joan is right behind him, looking over his shoulder.