Julius Henry Marx (Groucho) on the left and Adolph Marx (Harpo) on the right holding a rat terrier dog, c. 1906
College/University
Career
Gallery of Chico Marx
1909
Rockaway Beach, New York, United States
Chico Marx playing cards with himself; taken at Rockaway Beach, New York, c. 1909
Gallery of Chico Marx
1911
1911 newspaper advertisement for a Marx Brothers appearance (l–r: Harpo, Groucho, Gummo)
Gallery of Chico Marx
1915
The only known photo of the entire Marx family, c. 1915. From left: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Sam (father), Chico, and Harpo.
Gallery of Chico Marx
1917
Sheet music (1917) for one of the songs from Home Again; from left: Harpo, Groucho, Chico, Gummo
Gallery of Chico Marx
1930
Chico Marx around 1930
Gallery of Chico Marx
1946
in A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Gallery of Chico Marx
1948
The Three Marx Brothers by Yousuf Karsh, 1948
Gallery of Chico Marx
1950
Chico was the star of a 1950 ABC television comedy, The College Bowl. He played the role of a campus malt shop owner who dispensed both sodas and advice to the students.
Gallery of Chico Marx
1950
The Marx Brothers, from top: Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo Marx
Gallery of Chico Marx
1957
The five brothers, just prior to their only television appearance together, on the Tonight! America After Dark, hosted by Jack Lescoulie, February 18, 1957; from left: Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Groucho and Gummo
Gallery of Chico Marx
1959
General Electric Theater
Harpo and Chico Marx in "The Incredible Jewelry Robbery" on General Electric Theater in 1959
Chico was the star of a 1950 ABC television comedy, The College Bowl. He played the role of a campus malt shop owner who dispensed both sodas and advice to the students.
The five brothers, just prior to their only television appearance together, on the Tonight! America After Dark, hosted by Jack Lescoulie, February 18, 1957; from left: Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Groucho and Gummo
Chico Marx was an American comedian, musician, bartender, actor and film star. He was a member of the Marx Brothers.
Background
Chico Marx was born Leonard Marx in New York City on March 22, 1887, the second son of Jewish immigrants Sam "Frenchie" and Minnie (Schoenberg) Marx. Because the couple's first son had died in infancy, Chico was the eldest of the famed Marx Brothers.
The Marx’s home was unusual in several respects. Minnie and Frenchie’s roles were somewhat reversed, with Frenchie working out of the home as an unsuccessful tailor. Minnie worked outside as promoter for her brother, the famous vaudeville comedian Al Shean. They were poor, with numerous family members liable to drop in for dinner, taxing Frenchie’s creativity with his cooking to the limit. But the family was loving, and everyone was loved and accepted.
Chico grew up on the streets of New York City, learning to live by his wits. He was very intelligent, and quickly learned numerous small cons and swindles. As a young Jewish man growing up in the inner city, he learned to imitate accents of other ethnic groups in order to stay out of trouble when crossing “territories” controlled by those groups. Which is the origin of his “Italian” accent that he used so successfully on the stage and screen. He applied his mathematical abilities to quickly calculating odds, which he used in gambling at an early age. However, he often lost, and was not beyond stealing money from his brothers, or pawning his father’s tailor shears.
Education
One thing that was part of all of the young Marx brothers’ lives was Minnie’s plan. Daughter of a magician and a musician, she was adamant that her sons would find success on the stage. In Chico’s case, that involved Minnie and Frenchie scraping together enough money to buy a used piano and even to pay for piano lessons for the young Chico. Chico, however, was not a diligent student, and only practiced the minimum that he could get away with. In addition, he was supposed to pass what he learned on to his brother Harpo. But Harpo only learned enough to play two different songs. Groucho Marx one time said that Chico never practiced the pieces he played in the movies, but instead Chico would soak his fingers in hot water before going on.
Chico eventually joined his brothers on stage in a singing group. Their natural talents for comedy eventually surfaced, however. After one performance away from Minnie’s watchful eye, the Marx Brothers broke out into some of the madcap comedy for which they would later become famous. In response to a request for a different act for a second week’s engagement, they started performing a comedy sketch titled “Fun in Hi Skule” (1912) which they had seen performed many times in vaudeville. A later sequel, “Mr. Green’s Reception” (1913), followed afterward, as did “Home Again” (1914), “The Cinderella Girl” (1918), “On the Mezzanine Floor” (1921).
With their change from a musical group to a comedy act, their fortunes had improved. This led to playing the highest venues, culminating in performing at the Palace. Next came an English tour, where the Marx Brothers were extremely successful, including command performances for royalty. When they returned to America, their success had gone to their head, leading to their alienating E. F. Albee, the most influential man in vaudeville. Chico and the other Marx Brothers were blacklisted. With vaudeville closed to them, there was only one legitimate venue left to them — Broadway.
The Marx Brothers opened a new stage show, “I’ll Say She Is”. After 18 months of testing and fine-tuning they opened in New York to great reviews. This led to a series of successful stage shows, such as “The Cocoanuts” and “Animal Crackers.”
The year 1929 should have been a wonderful year for Chico. He and his brothers had completed their first film, “The Cocoanuts,” a filmed version of their stage show. However, two cataclysmic events occurred that year — Chico’s mother, Minnie, died after suffering a severe stroke. Also in 1929, Chico and his brothers lost virtually everything in the stock market crash that signaled the beginning of the Great Depression.
After Minnie’s death, Chico became the manager of the Marx Brothers. As their manager, Chico cut a deal with the movie studio for the Marx Brothers to receive a percentage of their films’ gross receipts. This was a first of its’ kind deal in Hollywood. Also, when the Marx Brothers’ film career was in a slump, Chico had them sign with Irving Thalberg at MGM. Characteristically, Chico met Thalberg at a poker game.
Though Chico was responsible for helping secure the wealth of his brothers, his gambling addiction forced them to take over his finances and put him on a fixed allowance. When the other brothers retired from show business, Chico kept working to pay off gambling debts. Jobs included headlining the Chico Marx Orchestra, where Mel Torme got his start, and performing at some of the seedy vaudeville houses where his career had begun. The Marx Brothers reunited for A Night in Casablanca (1946) to help Chico's bottom line after he'd filed for bankruptcy a few years earlier.
Chico passed away from arteriosclerosis on October 11, 1961 — the first of the Marx Brothers to pass away. He is entombed in a crypt in the Freedom Mausoleum in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Known popularly by the nickname Chico Marx, Leonard Marx was the eldest of the Marx Brothers who gained fame for themselves in the entertainment industry in the initial years of the 20th century.
Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them (Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera) in the top twelve. They are widely considered by critics, scholars, and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classic Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be inducted collectively.
None of the Brothers was religious in a strict sense. Although from a Jewish family, there is no evidence of them observing a kosher diet or, some of their weddings apart, observing any festivals after their own bar mitzvahs; and even that was attended by Groucho solely to collect the gift of a fountain pen. They celebrated Christmas in the same secular way as do many non-Christians, contradicting one account of an elderly Groucho rejecting (jokingly, if at all) a Christmas tree that had been brought in.
Views
Quotations:
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"
Personality
A comedian and actor, he sported a charming yet dim-witted character of the Italian origin in the various acts of the brothers. Not only did he sport a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat to complete the look, he complemented the same with an Italian accent as well. He was a compulsive womanizer.
Physical Characteristics:
His height - 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Interests
Chico had a reputation as a world-class pinochle player, a game he and Harpo learned from their father. Groucho said Chico would throw away good cards (with the knowledge of spectators) to make the play "more interesting". Chico's last public appearance was in 1960, playing cards on the television show Championship Bridge. He and his partner lost the game.
Sport & Clubs
Chico had a lifelong gambling habit. His favorite gambling pursuits were card games, horse racing, dog racing, and various sports betting. His addiction cost him millions of dollars by his own account. When an interviewer in the late 1930s asked him how much money he had lost from gambling, he answered, "Find out how much money Harpo's got. That's how much I've lost." Gummo Marx, in an interview years after Chico's death, said: "Chico's favorite people were actors who gambled, producers who gambled, and women who screwed." Referring to Chico's love life, George Jessel quipped, "Chico didn't button his fly until he was seventy."
Chico's lifelong gambling addiction compelled him to continue in show business long after his brothers had retired in comfort from their Hollywood income, and in the early 1940s he found himself playing in the same small, cheap halls in which he had begun his career 30 years earlier. The Marx Brothers' penultimate film, A Night in Casablanca (1946), was made for Chico's benefit since he had filed for bankruptcy a few years prior. Because of his out-of-control gambling, the brothers finally took the money as he earned it and put him on an allowance, on which he stayed until his death.
Connections
Chico was married twice. His first marriage was to Betty Karp in 1917. Their union produced one daughter named Maxine (1918–2009). His first marriage was plagued by his infidelity, ending in divorce in 1940; he was very close to his daughter Maxine and gave her acting lessons.
Chico's second marriage was to Mary De Vithas. They married in 1958, three years before his death.
Father:
Samuel Marx
(born Simon Marx; October 23, 1859 – May 10, 1933)
He was the husband of Minnie Marx, and father of the Marx Brothers.
Mother:
Minnie Marx
(born Miene Schönberg, 9 November 1865 or 1864 – 13 September 1929)
She was the mother and manager of the Marx Brothers, wife of Sam Marx, and the sister of vaudeville star Al Shean.
He was an American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. He was known as a master of quick wit and is widely considered one of America's greatest and most gifted comedians.