Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Gummo Marx, Lou Levy 1908
Gallery of Gummo 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 Gummo Marx
1925
Here is a rare picture of the five of them together. Groucho, Zeppo, Harpo, Chico and Gummo Marx.
Gallery of Gummo 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
Achievements
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
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
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
Milton "Gummo" Marx was an American vaudevillian performer, actor, comedian and theatrical agent. He was the second youngest of the five Marx Brothers.
Background
Marx was born in Manhattan, New York City, on October 23, 1893. His parents were Sam Marx (called "Frenchie" throughout his life), and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx. Marx's family was Jewish. His mother was from Dornum in East Frisia, and his father was a native of Alsace and worked as a tailor. The first of their six sons, Manfred, died in infancy. He had four brothers: Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Groucho Marx and Zeppo Marx.
The Marx children grew up on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side of the borough of Manhattan. 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.
Education
There is no information about his education.
Career
There are related versions as to how Gummo acquired his nickname, all revolving around shoes: Legend has it that he was stealthy backstage, sneaking up on people like a gumshoe (detective), so monologist Art Fisher dubbed him Gummo. However, it has also been reported that Gummo actually wore rubber-soled shoes because frequent illnesses required that his feet be protected from damp.
Gummo was actually the first Marx brother on stage, appearing early on in his Uncle Julius's ventriloquism act. Then, Minnie Marx organized a vaudeville singing troupe called the Three Nightingales in 1909, with Groucho, Gummo and singer Mabel O'Donell, to tour the circuit. When Harpo was brought in, they became the Four Nightingales, and Minnie occasionally joined in the act along with the boys' aunt, Hannah Schickler, making them the Six Mascots. When Chico joined the act, they became the Four Marx Brothers.
When Gummo left the brother act to join the war effort in 1917, youngest brother Zeppo took over his role as straight man.
Gummo's military service in the U.S. Army didn't require him to go overseas, but he didn't return to the stage after World War I, deciding to start a raincoat business instead. He later became a successful talent agent, especially after Zeppo joined him in the business when he, too, left the act.
Gummo ended up representing brother Groucho as well as other top talent of the time, including Glenn Ford, and helped develop the television series Life of Riley. He also held a patent for a packing rack he'd invented.
Gummo died on April 21, 1977, at his home in Palm Springs, California, aged 83, from a cerebral hemorrhage. His death was never reported to Groucho, who by that time had become so ill and weak that it was thought the news would be a further detriment to his health. Groucho died four months later on August 19, at age 86.
Gummo and his wife Helen are interred next to each other in the Freedom Mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Gummo's older brother Chico is in a crypt across the hall from them.
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. They celebrated Christmas in the same secular way as do many non-Christians. The Marxes were proud of their heritage but refused to play on it.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
When Richard J. Anobile asked Groucho in The Marx Bros. Scrapbook which of his brothers to whom he was closest, Groucho replied, "Gummo. He's a nice man, and that's more than I can say for Zeppo"
Connections
Marx married Helen von Tilzer on March 16, 1929; they remained married until her death in January 1976. Their son, Robert, was born in 1930.