Gary Lassin, an Ambler resident, is the founder, owner, director, benefactor, curator and publicist of a 10,000 sf Three Stooges shrine, also known as “The Stoogeum.”

He built the museum, which costs $10 to enter and attracts some 3,000 visitors a year, in 2004 near his house in Ambler to pay homage to his childhood favorites, and it’s the only one of its kind.

The interior includes several interactive displays, a research library, a 16mm film storage vault, an 85-seat theater for screenings, lectures and special presentations, and the world’s largest collection of Stooges memorabilia with close to 100,000 items.

The Stoogeum has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer among other outlets over the years, and in March Lassin published “A Tour De Farce: The Complete History of the Three Stooges on the Road,” a hardcover, 765-page encyclopedic compendium and the product of almost twenty years of research.

On August 17, TNT Amusements Inc. gifted The Stoogeum and new pinball machine.

Fun Fact: Lassin, a businessman with an undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and a MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, is married to the grandniece of Larry Fine, also known as “the middle Stooge.”

For more on The Stoogeum, located at 904 Sheble Lane, you can visit their Facebook page and website. You can also watch this Youtube video:

For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here.

Photos courtesy of The Stoogeum, Screengrab from Youtube.com