Background
Marx was born in Alsace, France, in 1859. The other children were born in 1887, Leonard (Chico). 1888, Adolph (Harpo).
1890, Julius (Groucho).
1892, Milton (Gummo) and 1901, Herbert (Zeppo).
Marx was born in Alsace, France, in 1859. The other children were born in 1887, Leonard (Chico). 1888, Adolph (Harpo).
1890, Julius (Groucho).
1892, Milton (Gummo) and 1901, Herbert (Zeppo).
Due to his place of birth he was known as "Frenchie". He met Minnie in New York where he was working as a dance teacher. Their first son, Manfred, born 1885, died in infancy.
Marx was an excellent pinochle player, a game he taught to his two oldest sons.
Marx became a tailor, although not a very good one. He was a talented cook, often convincing the landlord to delay their rent paytime with a good meal.
In his show An Evening With Groucho, Groucho reminisces about Sam Marx:
Harpo puts the bad tailoring down to the fact that Frenchie never actually took the time to measure a client for a suit, preferring to guess their size. He would then take suits that clients had rejected and travel to New Jersey and sell these door-to-door.
In his last interview, Zeppo joked that his father "was a very bad tailor but he found some people who were so stupid that they would buy his clothes, and so he"d make a few dollars that way for food".
Sam Marx died on May 10, 1933, from complications due to renal failure. He was 73.