1959 Fleer Three Stooges #1 Curly: Card No. 1 Went to the Stooge Who Died in 1952, and One of 595 Graded Is a PSA 9
Card #1 in the 1959 Fleer Three Stooges set is Curly, who had left the act after a stroke in 1946 and died in 1952. PSA has graded 595 copies. None is a PSA 10, exactly one is a straight PSA 9, and the most common grade is PSA 6.
The Stooge
Curly Howard was born Jerome Lester Horwitz in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn on Oct. 22, 1903, the youngest of five sons. Two of his older brothers, Moe and Shemp, were Stooges too. His brothers called him "Babe," then switched to "Curly" when Shemp married a woman with the same nickname.
In 1934 the trio, by then officially named The Three Stooges, signed with Columbia Pictures for a series of two-reel comedy shorts. Curly had no acting training. He built a character out of sound and motion: the high-pitched "nyuk-nyuk-nyuk," the "woob-woob-woob," "soitenly," barking like a dog, and dropping to the floor to spin on his shoulder in a circle. He is generally considered the most popular and recognizable of the Stooges.
His health began to fail in the mid-1940s. On May 6, 1946, he suffered a severe stroke on the set while sitting in director Jules White's chair, waiting to film the last scene. It ended his career. Shemp took his place in the Columbia shorts. Curly suffered further strokes, entered a nursing home in February 1951, and died on Jan. 18, 1952. He was 48.
Back on Screen in 1958
Curly's shorts outlived him. In September 1958, Screen Gems, Columbia's television arm, offered stations a package of 78 Stooge shorts, mostly from the Curly era. Another 40 followed in April 1959, and by September 1959 all 190 were airing regularly. The Curly-era shorts proved the most popular, and Moe suggested that the act's newest member, Joe DeRita, shave his head to play up a slight resemblance to Curly.
This card dates from 1959. By then the act was Moe, Larry Fine and "Curly Joe" DeRita, and the original Curly was a television presence seven years after his death.
The Card
The card is a simple portrait. Curly looks out wide-eyed against a teal background, in a dark suit with a red polka-dot tie, and the white border below carries one word: "Curly." PSA catalogs it as card #1 in the 1959 Fleer Three Stooges set.
The copy pictured is a PSA MINT 9, cert 60083793. Its label reads "1959 THE 3 STOOGES / #1 / CURLY" and names "The Twinight Collection."
PSA Population Report
| PSA Grade | Population |
|---|---|
| PSA 10 | 0 |
| PSA 9 | 1 |
| PSA 8 | 25 |
| Total Graded (All Grades) | 595 |
* Population data as of November 11, 2026. PSA population counts are dynamic and increase as more cards are submitted for grading.
Reading the Curve
The population climbs steadily from the bottom and then falls off a cliff. PSA 6 is the largest grade at 111 copies, with PSA 5 at 100, PSA 4 at 97 and PSA 3 at 90. Those four grades hold 398 of the 595, about two-thirds. The low end is well filled too, with 66 copies at PSA 2 and 34 at PSA 1.
Above PSA 6 the count drops to 67 at PSA 7, and then it thins out fast. Only 26 copies have reached PSA 8 or better, about 4 percent of the total. The ceiling is that single straight MINT 9, and no copy has reached PSA 10.
The 595 includes four slabs marked Authentic. PSA has also issued 53 half grades, four of them at 8.5, and 30 qualified grades. The largest qualified group sits at 8, with eight copies, and one more copy holds a qualified 9. Counting everything, PSA has slabbed 678 copies of this card.
