The Evil Dead Trilogy

The Shemp Business

The Three Stooges 1940s (l to r) Larry, Moe, Shemp

Throughout the trilogy there are a number of people credited as 'Fake Shemps' - indeed this is a characterisitic of Sam Raimi films and is not just limited to the trilogy. Shemp was a character that appeared in the 1940s to replace Curly as one of The Three Stooges, when he retired through illness. Raimi and Campbell are both HUGE Stooges fans, ye see! Shemp made 77 shorts and one movie as a Stooge. When Shemp died suddenly in 1955 at age 60, the films continued and he was replaced by a stand-in that made it pretty obvious that it wasn't good ol' Shemp.

Whenever anyone is credited as a 'Fake Shemp', it usually means that they were involved in the movie as an extra, a stand-in, a stunutman or had a minor role in the film that wasn't significant enough to have a character name. It's also a name given to friends of the film-makers who make a cameo appearance in the movies, such as:

• William Lustig - director of "Maniac Cop" - Army of Darkness
• Josh Becker - personal friend - the trilogy
• Harley Cokliss - director "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom" - Army of Darkness
• Berrnard Rose - director "Candyman" - Army of Darkness
• Ivan Raimi - Sam's brother - Army of Darkness
• Scott Spiegel - director "Intruder" - Evil Dead I and II
• Don Campbell - Bruce's brother - Evil Dead and Army of Darkness

These are just some of the examples. Occasionally these people film a scene and then it is removed from the final cut such as William Lustig's appearance in AOD.