Joe Palma (born Joseph Provenzano; March 17, 1905 â€" August 14, 1994)
was an American film actor. Palma appeared in over 120 films between
1937 and 1968. He was well known as a supporting player for The Three
Stooges and his brief tenure as a body double to member Shemp Howard
for four shorts produced after Shemp's death, which led to the coining
of the term "Fake Shemp".Palma was born and grew up in New York City,
and worked as a mortician in the Provenzano Funeral Home, owned by his
parents. Eventually, Hollywood called, and Palma headed west. He
joined the stock company at Columbia Pictures in 1937, and played
scores of bit parts over 30 years.With his lean build, brushed-back
hair, and unassuming appearance, Joe Palma almost always played
incidental roles. He was usually in the background, and at most, he
would be given only a few lines of dialogue. In the 1945 Three Stooges
comedy Beer Barrel Polecats, for instance, Palma plays an angry
convict who dares Curly Howard to punch him in the nose.Palma can be
glimpsed in all kinds of movies, including crime dramas, musical
comedies, costume epics, westerns, serials and two-reel comedies, in
roles such as:
was an American film actor. Palma appeared in over 120 films between
1937 and 1968. He was well known as a supporting player for The Three
Stooges and his brief tenure as a body double to member Shemp Howard
for four shorts produced after Shemp's death, which led to the coining
of the term "Fake Shemp".Palma was born and grew up in New York City,
and worked as a mortician in the Provenzano Funeral Home, owned by his
parents. Eventually, Hollywood called, and Palma headed west. He
joined the stock company at Columbia Pictures in 1937, and played
scores of bit parts over 30 years.With his lean build, brushed-back
hair, and unassuming appearance, Joe Palma almost always played
incidental roles. He was usually in the background, and at most, he
would be given only a few lines of dialogue. In the 1945 Three Stooges
comedy Beer Barrel Polecats, for instance, Palma plays an angry
convict who dares Curly Howard to punch him in the nose.Palma can be
glimpsed in all kinds of movies, including crime dramas, musical
comedies, costume epics, westerns, serials and two-reel comedies, in
roles such as:
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