- published: 22 Jan 2009
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Emil Sitka (December 22, 1915 – January 16, 1998) was a veteran American actor who appeared in hundreds of movies, short films, and television shows, and is best known for his numerous appearances with The Three Stooges—nearly 40. He is one of only two actors to have worked with all six Stooges (Shemp Howard, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Joe Besser, Joe DeRita) on film in the various incarnations of the group (Harold Brauer was the other). He is remembered mostly for a line of dialogue he keeps repeating in the Three Stooges short, Brideless Groom, where he appears as the justice of the peace attempting to marry Shemp and Dee Green: "Hold hands, you lovebirds!"
Sitka, whose numerous appearances with the Three Stooges earned him the nickname "the Fourth Stooge," was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1915. He was the oldest of five children. His father, a coal miner, died of black lung disease when Sitka was 12 years old, and his mother was hospitalized, unable to take care of the children. His siblings were placed in foster homes, but Sitka went to live in a church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a Catholic priest for the next few years. At this time, he became an altar boy and made plans to enter the priesthood, and had his first acting opportunity in the church's annual Passion Play. At the age of 16, he and one of his brothers traveled across the U.S.A., riding the rails hobo-style, looking for work. After a year, they returned to Pittsburgh, where Sitka found a job working in a factory. He stayed there until the great St. Patrick's Day Pittsburgh Flood of 1936, after which he departed to pursue his dream of acting in Hollywood, California.