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Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October
2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an United
States|American comedian, working both with his
siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own.

The Marx family grew up on the Upper East Side of
New York City, in a small Jewish neighborhood
sandwiched between Irish-German and Italian
neighborhoods. For a time in vaudeville, all the
brothers performed in ethnic accents; Leonard
Marx, the oldest Marx brother, developed the
"Italian" accent he used as "Chico Marx|Chico" to
convince some roving bullies that he was Italian,
not Jewish. Groucho did a German_language|German
accent. However, after the sinking of the RMS
Lusitania in 1915 public anti-German sentiment was
widespread, and Groucho's "German" character was
booed, so he quickly dropped the accent and
developed the fast-talking wise guy character he
would make famous.

==Career highlights==

Groucho developed a routine as a wise-cracking
hustler with a distinctive chicken-walking lope
and an exaggerated greasepaint mustache,
improvising insults to stuffy dowagers (often
played by Margaret Dumont) and anyone else who
stood in his way. He and his brothers starred in a
series of extraordinarily popular movies and stage
shows, often departing from the scripts they were
using. (See: Marx Brothers)

The use of greasepaint originated spontaneously
before a vaudeville performance when he did not
have time to apply the pasted-on mustache he had
been using.

In the 1930s and 1940s Groucho also worked as a
radio comedian and show host. In the late 1940s,
he hosted the popular radio program You Bet Your
Life, which moved over to television in 1950. The
show consisted of Groucho interviewing the
contestants and ad libbing jokes. Then they would
play a brief quiz. The show was responsible for
the phrases "Say the secret woidword and divide
$100" (that is, each contestant would get $50);
and "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?" or "What color
is the White House?" (asked when Groucho felt
sorry for a contestant who hadn't won anything).
It would run 11 years on television.

Throughout his career he introduced a number of
memorable songs in films, including "Hooray for
Captain Spaulding", "I'm Against It", "Hello I
Must be Going", "Everyone Says I Love You" and
"Lydia the Tattooed Lady". Crooner Frank Sinatra
once quipped that the only thing he could do
better than Marx was sing.

==Later years==

Off-stage he was bookish and stated late in life
that he lamented the fact he had never finished
school or gone to college. Despite his lack of
formal education he wrote several books, including
the autobiographical Groucho and Me (1959) (Da
Capo Press, 1995, ISBN 0306806665).

In later years he grew a real moustache, the lack
of which had earlier been an effective means of
hiding himself from fans.

His stage name was said to have been bestowed on
him because while in vaudeville he kept his money
in a bag around his neck known as a "grouch" bag.
An alternate story is that he was grouchy. The
comedian himself wrote that he did not know the
nickname's origin. In any case, he was a master at
improvising clever insults and became well known
for this. One of his frustrations in later years
was that when he insulted people who annoyed him
they tended to laugh, thinking it was just part of
the famous comedian's act.

In the early 1970s, Groucho made a comeback of
sorts doing a live one-man show, including one
recorded at Carnegie Hall and released as a double
album, An Evening with Groucho, on A&M Records.
His previous works once again became popular and
were accompanied by new books of interviews and
other transcribed conversations by Richard J.
Anobile and Charlotte Chandler.  He had become
quite frail by this time, and possibly senile, and
his last few years were accompanied by controversy
over a companionship he had developed with Erin
Fleming and consequent disputes over his estate.

Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977. He was
cremated, and the ashes were interred in the Eden
Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los
Angeles, California|Mission Hills, California.
Aged 86 at death, Groucho was the longest-lived of
all the Marx brothers, though younger brother
Zeppo Marx|Zeppo survived him by two years. His
death undoubtedly would have received more
attention at the time had it not occurred three
days after that of Elvis Presley.

==Groucho's legacy==
Various Groucho-like characters have appeared in
popular culture, some long after Marx's death, a
testament to the character's lasting appeal.
*Bugs Bunny befuddles Elmer Fudd memorably in
"Wideo Wabbit" (1956) by imitating the mustachioed
comedian in a "You Bet Your Life" parody called
"You Beat Your Wife". Later he imitates Art Carney
and slaps comical glasses on Elmer, admonishing
"don't be such a Groucho". 
*Alan Alda often vamped as Groucho on M*A*S*H (TV
series)|M*A*S*H and a minor semi-recurring
character in the series (played by Loudon
Wainwright III) was named Captain Calvin Spalding
in a nod towards Groucho's character in Animal
Crackers, Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding.
*Gabe Kaplan portrayed Marx in the biographical
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084031/ Groucho
(1982) which was originally produced on Broadway.
Kaplan also impersonated Groucho, his hero, in his
television series Welcome Back Kotter, and in
http://www.whatzup.com/Archives/cover082400.html
WhatzUp Magazine recalled that he had even
approached Groucho to make a cameo on the show but
Groucho's care-giver, Erin Fleming, wouldn't allow
it. 
*Dave Sim, in his controversial comic book Cerebus
the Aardvark, cast Groucho as the slippery,
wisecracking but indomitable Lord Julius,
Grandlord of the bureaucrat-ridden City-state of
Palnu. 
*In Tiziano Sclavi's comic book series Dylan Dog,
the hero's sidekick and assistant is called and
looks like Groucho Marx. His moustache was removed
in the US version of the series. 
*Rob Zombie uses two Groucho Marx character names
(Captain Spaulding (Animal Crackers) & Rufus
Firefly (Duck Soup)) for his movies, House of 1000
Corpses & The Devil's Rejects.
In a 2005 poll, The Comedian's Comedian, Groucho
was voted the 5th greatest comedy act ever by
fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

==Quotations about Groucho Marx ==

* "Groucho Marx was the best comedian this country
ever produced. ...  He is simply unique in the
same way that Pablo Picasso|Picasso or Igor
Stravinsky|Stravinsky are." —Woody Allen
* A famous France|French witticism was "Je suis
Marxiste, tendance Groucho."; "I'm a
Marxism|Marxist of the Groucho variety". This line
spread to other nations as well in the 1960s and
1970s.

== External links ==
* imdb name|id=0000050|name=Groucho Marx
* http://www.groucho-marx.com Groucho-Marx.com - a
fan site
* http://www.marx-brothers.org/living/groucho.htm
Groucho Marx at Marx-Brothers.org
*
http://www.clown-ministry.com/History/marx-brother
s/groucho-marx-julius.html Groucho Marx biography
at Clown-Ministry.com
*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/letter_from_
america/3578615.stm Alistair Cooke's reflections
on his friendship with Groucho

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October
2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an United
States|American comedian, working both with his
siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own.

The Marx family grew up on the Upper East Side of
New York City, in a small Jewish neighborhood
sandwiched between Irish-German and Italian
neighborhoods. For a time in vaudeville, all the
brothers performed in ethnic accents; Leonard
Marx, the oldest Marx brother, developed the
"Italian" accent he used as "Chico Marx|Chico" to
convince some roving bullies that he was Italian,
not Jewish. Groucho did a German_language|German
accent. However, after the sinking of the RMS
Lusitania in 1915 public anti-German sentiment was
widespread, and Groucho's "German" character was
booed, so he quickly dropped the accent and
developed the fast-talking wise guy character he
would make famous.

==Career highlights==



Groucho developed a routine as a wise-cracking
hustler with a distinctive chicken-walking lope
and an exaggerated greasepaint mustache,
improvising insults to stuffy dowagers (often
played by Margaret Dumont) and anyone else who
stood in his way. He and his brothers starred in a
series of extraordinarily popular movies and stage
shows, often departing from the scripts they were
using. (See: Marx Brothers)

The use of greasepaint originated spontaneously
before a vaudeville performance when he did not
have time to apply the pasted-on mustache he had
been using.

In the 1930s and 1940s Groucho also worked as a
radio comedian and show host. In the late 1940s,
he hosted the popular radio program You Bet Your
Life, which moved over to television in 1950. The
show consisted of Groucho interviewing the
contestants and ad libbing jokes. Then they would
play a brief quiz. The show was responsible for
the phrases "Say the secret woidword and divide
$100" (that is, each contestant would get $50);
and "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?" or "What color
is the White House?" (asked when Groucho felt
sorry for a contestant who hadn't won anything).
It would run 11 years on television.

Throughout his career he introduced a number of
memorable songs in films, including "Hooray for
Captain Spaulding", "I'm Against It", "Hello I
Must be Going", "Everyone Says I Love You" and
"Lydia the Tattooed Lady". Crooner Frank Sinatra
once quipped that the only thing he could do
better than Marx was sing.

==Later years==


Off-stage he was bookish and stated late in life
that he lamented the fact he had never finished
school or gone to college. Despite his lack of
formal education he wrote several books, including
the autobiographical Groucho and Me (1959) (Da
Capo Press, 1995, ISBN 0306806665).

In later years he grew a real moustache, the lack
of which had earlier been an effective means of
hiding himself from fans.

His stage name was said to have been bestowed on
him because while in vaudeville he kept his money
in a bag around his neck known as a "grouch" bag.
An alternate story is that he was grouchy. The
comedian himself wrote that he did not know the
nickname's origin. In any case, he was a master at
improvising clever insults and became well known
for this. One of his frustrations in later years
was that when he insulted people who annoyed him
they tended to laugh, thinking it was just part of
the famous comedian's act.

In the early 1970s, Groucho made a comeback of
sorts doing a live one-man show, including one
recorded at Carnegie Hall and released as a double
album, An Evening with Groucho, on A&M Records.
His previous works once again became popular and
were accompanied by new books of interviews and
other transcribed conversations by Richard J.
Anobile and Charlotte Chandler.  He had become
quite frail by this time, and possibly senile, and
his last few years were accompanied by controversy
over a companionship he had developed with Erin
Fleming and consequent disputes over his estate.

Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977. He was
cremated, and the ashes were interred in the Eden
Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los
Angeles, California|Mission Hills, California.
Aged 86 at death, Groucho was the longest-lived of
all the Marx brothers, though younger brother
Zeppo Marx|Zeppo survived him by two years. His
death undoubtedly would have received more
attention at the time had it not occurred three
days after that of Elvis Presley.

==Groucho's legacy==
Various Groucho-like characters have appeared in
popular culture, some long after Marx's death, a
testament to the character's lasting appeal.
*Bugs Bunny befuddles Elmer Fudd memorably in
"Wideo Wabbit" (1956) by imitating the mustachioed
comedian in a "You Bet Your Life" parody called
"You Beat Your Wife". Later he imitates Art Carney
and slaps comical glasses on Elmer, admonishing
"don't be such a Groucho". 
*Alan Alda often vamped as Groucho on M*A*S*H (TV
series)|M*A*S*H and a minor semi-recurring
character in the series (played by Loudon
Wainwright III) was named Captain Calvin Spalding
in a nod towards Groucho's character in Animal
Crackers, Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding.
*Gabe Kaplan portrayed Marx in the biographical
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084031/ Groucho
(1982) which was originally produced on Broadway.
Kaplan also impersonated Groucho, his hero, in his
television series Welcome Back Kotter, and in
http://www.whatzup.com/Archives/cover082400.html
WhatzUp Magazine recalled that he had even
approached Groucho to make a cameo on the show but
Groucho's care-giver, Erin Fleming, wouldn't allow
it.  (According to Mark Evanier,
http://povonline.com/cols/COL239.htm Marx did
visit the set with Fleming, but wasn't well enough
to perform.)
*Dave Sim, in his controversial comic book Cerebus
the Aardvark, cast Groucho as the slippery,
wisecracking but indomitable Lord Julius,
Grandlord of the bureaucrat-ridden City-state of
Palnu. 
*In Tiziano Sclavi's comic book series Dylan Dog,
the hero's sidekick and assistant is called and
looks like Groucho Marx. His moustache was removed
in the US version of the series. 
*Rob Zombie uses four Groucho Marx character names
(Captain Spaulding from Animal Crackers, Otis
Driftwood from A Night at the Opera, Rufus Firefly
from Duck Soup, and S. Quentin Quale from Go West)
for his movies, House of 1000 Corpses & The
Devil's Rejects.
In a 2005 poll, The Comedian's Comedian, Groucho
was voted the 5th greatest comedy act ever by
fellow comedians and comedy insiders. His glasses,
nose, and moustache have become icons of comedy.

==Quotations about Groucho Marx ==

* "Groucho Marx was the best comedian this country
ever produced. ...  He is simply unique in the
same way that Pablo Picasso|Picasso or Igor
Stravinsky|Stravinsky are." —Woody Allen
* A famous France|French witticism was "Je suis
Marxiste, tendance Groucho."; "I'm a
Marxism|Marxist of the Groucho variety". This line
spread to other nations as well in the 1960s and
1970s.

== External links ==
* imdb name|id=0000050|name=Groucho Marx
* http://www.groucho-marx.com Groucho-Marx.com - a
fan site
* http://www.marx-brothers.org/living/groucho.htm
Groucho Marx at Marx-Brothers.org
*
http://www.clown-ministry.com/History/marx-brother
s/groucho-marx-julius.html Groucho Marx biography
at Clown-Ministry.com
*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/letter_from_
america/3578615.stm Alistair Cooke's reflections
on his friendship with Groucho