1911 newspaper advertisement for a Marx Brothers appearance (l–r: Harpo, Groucho, Gummo)
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1915
The only known photo of all five Marx brothers with their parents in New York City, 1915; from left: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Frenchie (father), Chico, and Harpo
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1917
Sheet music (1917) for one of the songs from Home Again; from left: Harpo, Groucho, Chico, Gummo
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1931
The Marx Brothers in 1931 (from top, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo)
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1939
Groucho and Eve Arden in a scene from At the Circus (1939)
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1946
in A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1946
The Marx Brothers (clockwise from bottom: Groucho, Chico, and Harpo) by Yusuf Karsh, 1946
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1953
Groucho as host of You Bet Your Life, 1953
Gallery of Groucho Marx
1953
On the set of You Bet Your Life with daughter Melinda, 1953
Gallery of Groucho 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
The only known photo of all five Marx brothers with their parents in New York City, 1915; from left: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Frenchie (father), Chico, and Harpo
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
Groucho Marx was an American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. He was one of the Marx Brothers. He spent nearly seven decades making people laugh with his snappy one-liners and sharp wit.
Background
Julius Marx was born on October 2, 1890, in the Manhattan borough, of New York City, New York. Marx stated that he was born in a room above a butcher's shop on East 78th Street, "Between Lexington & 3rd", as told to Dick Cavett in a 1969 television interview. 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. The turn-of-the-century building that his brother Harpo called "the first real home they ever knew" (in his memoir Harpo Speaks) was populated with European immigrants, mostly artisans.
Marx's family was Jewish. Groucho's mother was Miene "Minnie" Schoenberg, whose family came from Dornum in northern Germany when she was 16 years old. His father was Simon "Sam" Marx, who changed his name from Marrix, and was called "Frenchie" by his sons throughout his life because he and his family came from Alsace in France. Minnie's brother was Al Schoenberg, who shortened his name to Al Shean when he went into show business as half of Gallagher and Shean, a noted vaudeville act of the early 20th century. According to Groucho, when Shean visited he would throw the local waifs a few coins so that when he knocked at the door he would be surrounded by adoring fans. Marx and his brothers respected his opinions and asked him on several occasions to write some material for them.
Education
Their mother, Minnie Marx, did not have an entertainment industry career but had intense ambition for her sons to go on the stage like their uncle. While pushing her eldest son Leonard (Chico Marx) in piano lessons she found that Julius had a pleasant soprano voice and the ability to remain on key. Julius's early career goal was to become a doctor, but the family's need for income forced him out of school at the age of twelve. By that time young Julius had become a voracious reader, particularly fond of Horatio Alger. Marx would continue to overcome his lack of formal education by becoming very well-read.
Marx started his career as a singer. One of his earliest efforts proved to be disastrous, however. As part of the Le May Trio, Marx got stuck in Colorado for a while after another group member took off with his pay. He had to work at a grocery store to earn enough money to make it back to New York.
His mother Minnie hoped that she might find prosperity through her five children. She became the quintessential "stage mother," guiding her children's theatrical acts and even performing herself. The act eventually featured Groucho and his brothers Leonard, Adolph and Milton.
Groucho received his colorful nickname from fellow vaudeville performer Art Fisher because of his personality. Fisher also coined amusing names for Marx's brothers, renaming Leonard "Chico," Adolph "Harpo" and Milton "Gummo." Milton left the act to fight in World War I and was replaced by youngest brother Herbert, known as "Zeppo." Both Herbert and Milton later became theatrical agents.
The Marx Brothers had a career breakthrough in 1914 while performing in Texas. During a show, some of the audience left to go see a runaway mule. When they returned, the Marx Brothers put aside their usual routines to make fun of the audience. Groucho's quick-witted quips won over the crowd. The switch to comedy proved to be their ticket to success.
By the 1920s, the Marx Brothers had become a hugely popular theatrical act. Groucho had developed some of his trademarks by this time. He often wore a long coat, a painted-on mustache, thick glasses and held on to a cigar on stage. In addition to just liking cigars, Marx explained that they proved useful, too. He said that "if you forget a line, all you have to do is stick the cigar in your mouth and puff on it until you think of what you've forgotten."
The Marx Brothers had a string of Broadway hits, starting with 1924's I'll Say She Is, which Groucho helped write. The following year, they returned to the stage with The Cocoanuts, a spoof on land speculation in Florida. The Marx Brothers hit it big again in 1928 with Animal Crackers.
In great demand, Marx appeared on Broadway in Animal Crackers at night while filming the film version of The Cocoanuts during the day. Around this time, he nearly suffered a complete mental breakdown. His hectic schedule and his enormous financial loss in the 1929 stock market crash had taken a toll on the performer and left him with a lifelong struggle with insomnia.
Working with producer Irving Thalberg, the Marx Brothers created one of their most popular movies: A Night at the Opera (1935). As the decade drew to a close, the Marx Brothers continued to make more films, but none matched the success of their earlier efforts. Their last film together was 1949's Love Happy.
Even before the Marx Brothers split up, Groucho had been exploring other career opportunities. He wrote the 1930 humorous book Beds, and followed it up in 1942 with Many Happy Returns, his comic attack on taxes. On the radio, Groucho worked on several programs before landing a hit in 1947 with You Bet Your Life. He hosted the quirky game show, which focused more on his quick wit than on contestants winning prizes.
You Bet Your Life moved from radio to television in 1950, and Marx entertained America with his wisecracks for 11 years, also winning a 1951 Emmy. After that program ended in 1961, he appeared on Tell It to Groucho, a short-lived game show the following year. Then Marx largely retreated from the limelight, making only sporadic appearances on television and in films.
Later in life, instead of performing, Marx wrote a follow-up to his 1959 autobiography Groucho and Me. This time around, he focused on love and sex in 1963's Memoirs of a Mangy Lover. The thrice-married comedian had a lot to say on those topics.
A prolific correspondent with friends and associates, Marx had his personal writings published in 1967 as The Groucho Letters. He returned to the stage in 1972 with a one-man show at New York City's Carnegie Hall. Crowds turned out to see the performer, then in his 80s. He managed to charm and entertain the audience. Two years later, Marx received a special Academy Award for his stage and screen efforts.
By 1977, Marx was in decline both physically and mentally. He struggled with health problems, and his family battled with his companion Erin Fleming over control of his affairs. After spending nearly two months in a Los Angeles hospital, Marx died of pneumonia on August 19, 1977.
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.
The Marxes were proud of their heritage but refused to play on it, though Gummo portrayed a stereotyped "Hebrew Boy" in vaudeville and Groucho switched from a German to a Jewish character when the Lusitania was sunk.
Later in life, Groucho started to attend a synagogue, probably to please Erin Fleming, who had converted to Judaism. Groucho seems to have had no religious belief throughout his life: his son, Arthur, was at one time sent to Sunday school to please the boy's maternal grandmother, and after enquiring as to the day's lesson, Groucho systematically explained why he didn't believe any of it. Arthur was married in a Jewish ceremony, where his father asked the officiating clergyman "Is it true you fellows breed like rabbis?" When taken to a mystic by, as he put it, "an early wife", Groucho expressed total disbelief in the concept of the hereafter. The meeting was centred around a woman who, once in a trance, welcomed questions of any sort. "What's the capital of North Dakota?" asked Groucho, before being thrown out.
For Groucho, his lack of faith in life after death was confirmed by an understanding he had made with Chico and Harpo, in that whoever died first would, in the event of an afterlife, make every effort to contact those remaining on earth. "So far I have not heard from them" he said later.
Politics
Groucho said once about politics: "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."
Irving Berlin quipped, "The world would not be in such a snarl, had Marx been Groucho instead of Karl". In his book The Groucho Phile, Marx says "I've been a liberal Democrat all my life", and "I frankly find Democrats a better, more sympathetic crowd.... I'll continue to believe that Democrats have a greater regard for the common man than Republicans do". However, just as some of the other Democrats of the time, Marx also said in a television interview that he disliked the women's liberation movement.
Views
Groucho's consciousness of his Jewish identity, though presumably a matter of heritage alone, was extremely strong: on hearing of the Israeli massacre at the 1972 Olympics, Groucho was so shocked that he actually suffered a stroke, forcing the postponement of his Los Angeles stage show from September to December.
Quotations:
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."
"Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped."
"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know."
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception."
Personality
His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous and recognizable novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses: a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.
He suffered from insomnia, which he claimed was due to a financial loss in the stock market. When he suffered from insomnia, he used to call people up in the middle of the night and insult them.
Physical Characteristics:
Since 1929, he had a lifelong struggle with insomnia.
In 80s, he had trouble hearing and his voice was much weaker than it was in his prime.
Quotes from others about the person
"He developed the insult into an art form," The New York Times mused on his death. "And he used the insult, delivered with maniacal glee, to shatter the egos of the pompous and to plunge his audience into helpless laughter."
"As Groucho Marx once said, 'Anyone can get old - all you have to do is to live long enough'." —Queen Elizabeth II speaking at her 80th birthday celebration in 2006.
George Fenneman, Groucho’s announcer on “You Bet Your Life,” was once asked if Groucho ever embarrassed him on the air. “Each and every show,” Fenneman replied.
Interests
Writers
Horatio Alger
Music & Bands
Groucho made serious efforts to learn to play the guitar. In the 1932 film Horse Feathers, Groucho performs the film's love theme "Everyone Says I Love You" for costar Thelma Todd on a Gibson L-5.
Connections
Groucho's three marriages all ended in divorce. His first wife was chorus girl Ruth Johnson. He was 29 and she 19 at the time of their wedding. The couple had two children, Arthur Marx and Miriam Marx. His second wife was Kay Marvis (m. 1945–51), née Catherine Dittig, former wife of Leo Gorcey. Groucho was 54 and Kay 21 at the time of their marriage. They had a daughter, Melinda Marx. His third wife was actress Eden Hartford.
During the early 1950s, Groucho described his perfect woman: "Someone who looks like Marilyn Monroe and talks like George S. Kaufman."