He didn't have the confidence to sit down with Harry Cohn and say, 'We need more money. Maurer told the Times that her dad grew up poor and didn't know how to fight for what he and the Three Stooges were worth. Romm had 'a cozy relationship' with Cohn, said Moe's daughter, Joan Hoard Maurer.
To make matters worse, the Three Stooges' manager, Harry Romm, was ripping them off. In other words, they had no idea how popular they really were. While Columbia was only paying each of the Three Stooges a maximum of $20,000 per year, the studio was raking it in and the Stooges never saw viewership numbers, according to the New York Times. In the meantime, the Three Stooges were making the studio big bucks. Over the years, shorts were slowly going the way of the dodo bird as television and films took over, but Columbia wouldn't close its shorts department for decades. The New 3 Stooges The New 3 Stooges S03 E011 Three Jacks and a Beanstalk Peter Panic When You Wish Upon a Fish. After signing them in 1934, Cohn had the trio sign new contracts every year, convincing them that the shorts department was on its last legs. The New 3 Stooges The New 3 Stooges S02 E011 The Three Marketeers the Plumber’s Friend Rub-A-Dub-Tub.