Groucho Marx

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Groucho Marx, 1947

Groucho Marx (born 2. October 1890 as Julius Henry Marx in New York ; died 19 August 1977 in Los Angeles ) was an American actor and entertainer . As the witty spokesman for the Marx Brothers , he became one of the most successful English-speaking comedians .

Life

Childhood and early successes

The Marx family, Groucho on the far left, ca.1915

The Marx brothers grew up in Yorkville on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in a small, Jewish-influenced neighborhood between larger German-Irish communities. Father Simon came from Alsace and was therefore called "Frenchie". Mother Minnie came from Dornum in East Frisia and had a brother, Al Shean (actually Albert Schönberg), who formed a well-known variety duo with his partner Edward Gallagher from 1910 to 1920. He was admired by the brothers and should write some skits for them. Minnie dreamed of her sons getting into show business like her brother.

The eldest son Leonard ( Chico ) took piano lessons, while Julius had a pleasant soprano voice and was able to hold the tone. He actually wanted to become a doctor, but he was supposed to earn money for the family and had to leave school at the age of twelve. At that time, Groucho had devoured books (especially Horatio Alger , author of cheap novels) and throughout his life he used his acquired knowledge to make up for the “missed” formal schooling. After a few attempts to gain a foothold with office jobs and other age-appropriate activities, he went on stage as a singer in 1905. His claim that he was only moderately successful in the vaudeville world but hopelessly mediocre has later proven to be silly jokes. In 1909, Minnie had managed to manage her sons into a second rate variety act . Under the name "The Four Nightingales" (The Four Nightingales) Groucho, Gummo , Harpo and another boy named Lou Levy performed in various variety theaters without much success.

They then moved to La Grange , Illinois , to play in the Midwest . After a particularly bleak performance in Nacogdoches , Texas, Groucho, Gummo, and Harpo began talking jokes on stage, and to their amazement, the audience liked them far more as a comedian than a musician. They rewrote a then popular Gus Edwards piece, School Days, and named it Fun In Hi Skule . They toured the country with variations on this program for over seven years. During their time in vaudeville, the brothers performed with different linguistic accents. Chico developed an Italian accent that he used to trick a few thugs into believing he was Italian and not Jewish. Groucho's character in Hi Skule was German so of course he played this with a German accent. This changed when the mood after the torpedoing of the RMS Lusitania in 1915 turned and turned against Germany. Thereupon he developed the fast-speaking smart guy, with which he should become famous.

Soon the Marx Brothers became celebrated stars of the Palace Theater, the self-proclaimed "Walhalla des Varieté". Chico's business acumen resulted in three successful plays, and the brothers became a Broadway sensation before their Hollywood era .

Career highlights

Groucho Marx, 1931
Groucho, Chico and Harpo , 1948

"It looks as if Hollywood brides keep the bouquets and throw away the grooms."

"It seems that in Hollywood brides keep their bouquets and throw away their husbands in return."

- Groucho Marx

Groucho and his brothers appeared on a number of hugely popular stage shows, often with impromptu dialogues. In the movies, Groucho cultivated his role as a tongue-tied gentleman who caught his opponents by surprise and alternately knew how to stir up and fend off the affection of his admirers (mostly played by Margaret Dumont ). His characteristic gait with expansive steps and one hand on his back parodied the fashionable promenade of the American upper class at the turn of the century . Mustache and eyebrows were first made with grease , allegedly to enable quick costume changes for variety shows without the hassle of sticking to the bar. According to his own statements, he simply didn't feel like tearing off part of his skin with the beard glue every evening. The absurdity of the made-up masculine ornamentation was never mentioned on stage or in the film, but there is a scene in Duck Soup ( The Marx Brothers at War ) in which both Chico and Harpo dress up as Groucho, and one in which briefly you can see how they put on makeup.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Groucho also worked on the radio as a comedian and host of his own shows, one of which was discontinued after a brief run in 1932 under the title Flywheel, Shyster & Flywheel . Besides Groucho, only Chico appeared here. Most of the recordings were destroyed afterwards, with the exception of the last broadcast. However, the originals of the scripts written by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman were rediscovered in the archives of the Library of Congress in 1988 of a total of 21 episodes. In 1947 Groucho was selected to host the radio quiz You Bet Your Life , with which he would appear on television from 1950 to 1961. The show consisted of a largely improvised conversation with the participants and a short quiz . In this show the expression “ Say the secret woid [word] and divide 100 $ ” (German: “Say the secret word and divide 100 $ [each participant would receive 50 $]”) was coined. Candidates Groucho felt sorry for because they hadn't won anything, he asked questions like "Who is buried in Grant's grave?" Or "What color is the White House?" The show ran on television for eleven years.

One of the witty remarks concerned the Director Sam Wood , the film A Night at the Opera ( A Night at the Opera ) turned to them and was angry with the brothers because of their constant improvisation. Alluding to the creation of man by God in the Bible, he exclaimed: “ I can not make actors out of clay ”, to which Groucho answered without hesitation “ Nor can you make a director out of Wood. "(German:" And you can't make a director out of wood (Wood!). ")

Often quoted, if not proven, is the dialogue with a candidate who had 19 children. When Groucho asked why so many, she replied, “ I love my husband. ”(German:“ I love my husband. ”) Groucho then replied:“ Lady, I love my cigar, too, but I take it out once in a while. "(German:" My lady, I love my cigar too, but every now and then I take it out. ")

unmistakably Groucho

How popular he was in the 1960s is shown by a scene from the television series The Charming Jeannie , in which Roger Healey wishes he was the funniest man in the world. Jeannie then turns him into Groucho. And Groucho Marx plays himself.

During the May riots in Paris in 1968, an anonymous sprayer had sprayed the slogan “  Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho  ” (German: “I am a Marxist, towards Groucho”) on walls and house walls. In doing so, he documented the popularity of the Marx Brothers, who were considered cult figures of the imaginative and unruly generation of 1968, who considered the Communist Manifesto too serious: from the late 1960s the specter of Marxism was grinning in Europe. In Horse Feathers ( Blooming Nonsense ) from 1932, Groucho, as the newly elected university president Professor Wagstaff, announced in a song to the dignitaries: " Whatever it is - I'm against it " (German: " Whatever it is - I'm against it ") and hit the nerve of the protesting students.

In his film career, Groucho Marx sang the following songs, among others:

  • Hooray for Captain Spaulding
  • Hello, I Must Be Going
  • Whatever It Is, I'm Against It
  • Everyone Says I Love You
  • Lydia the Tattooed Lady

Frank Sinatra once joked that the only thing he could do better than Groucho was sing. He made the film Double Dynamite with him and Jane Russell in 1951 .

The Spanish cartoonist Ventura took Groucho Marx as a model for his character Julio in the comic series "Grouñidos en el desierto" by the satirical magazine El Jueves .

The show “You Bet Your Life”

Groucho Marx, 1953

"If I can't be funny on television without funny clothes and makeup, to hell with it."

"If I can't be funny on TV without a costume and make-up, then to hell with that."

- Groucho Marx

In the mid-1940s, when his career was at a low point, Groucho was scheduled to appear on a radio show with Bob Hope . After sitting in the waiting room for 40 minutes, he came on stage a little irritated and responded to Hope's “Ah, that's Groucho Marx, ladies and gentlemen. (Applause) Groucho, what brings you here from the hot desert? ”Back“ Something wrong with the hot desert. I sat in the cold waiting room for 40 minutes. ”Groucho continued to ignore the script, and although Hope was a brilliant improviser in his own way, he was inferior to Groucho; this stretched the whole scene, with a real hurricane of stupidities, far beyond the planned timeslot. John Guedel had listened to the show and had a brainstorm. He approached Groucho to ask if he was interested in hosting a quiz show. “Only actors who are really exhausted do quiz shows,” was his answer. Guedel persisted, explaining that he was less interested in the quiz than in talking to the candidates. And finally Groucho agreed. You Bet Your Life was on the radio from 1947 to 1951 and switched to television in 1951. The show ran on NBC for another eleven years and became one of the most successful shows on US radio and television.

With George Fenneman as announcer and counterpart, Groucho surprised his audience with extraordinary conversations. The show was so good that Lowell Toy Manufacturing Corporation of New York made a board game version of it that candidates were allowed to take home as a personal souvenir of Groucho.

Groucho's competition brought rumors into the world that You Bet Your Life was completely pre-formulated and that Groucho was not improvising in any way. They felt validated when a photo popped up showing Groucho looking at a transparent screen. In truth, there was only a minimal script that was meant to help the guests rather than Groucho. Groucho only met his guests (apart from those he knew) on the show, there were no rehearsals. The show's staff put together a catalog of questions, but Groucho never knew an answer in advance. However, there were two authors whose gags Groucho occasionally incorporated into the dialogue.

Private life

“Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to live in an institution? "

“Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to live in an institution? "

- Groucho Marx

Groucho was married three times and was divorced three times: "Paying alimony is like feeding a dead horse with hay." (Groucho Marx)

wife marriage divorce children
Ruth Johnson 4th February 1920 July 15, 1942 Arthur and Miriam
Kay Marvis (aka Gorcey) February 24, 1945 May 12, 1951 Melinda
Eden Hartford 17th July 1954 4th December 1969 -

Off the stage, Groucho was a book lover. He always regretted having only had a middle school education. To compensate for this, he read everything that fell into his hands. His reading was extraordinary, but he was very reluctant to talk about it: "I think television educates," he once said. “Every time someone turns on the TV, I go next door and read.” He also wrote books himself, including the autobiography Groucho and Me and Memoirs of a Mangy Lover . His friends included the writers TS Eliot and Carl Sandburg . He published many of his personal and business correspondence in The Groucho Letters .

Groucho Marx lost a large part of his investments in the stock market crash in October 1929 . In his 1974 will, his fortune was valued at $ 2 million to $ 6 million; The main beneficiaries were his three children.

Late years

Urn grave of Groucho Marx

“Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough. "

“Age is not a particularly interesting topic. Everyone can get old. You just have to live long enough. "

- Groucho Marx

Around 1951, Groucho had a real mustache , the lack of which was previously a good way to hide from fans. In the 1970s he had a small comeback , on the one hand with a one-man show that he performed live, including in 1972 at Carnegie Hall (released in 1972 as a double album under the title An Evening with Groucho on A&M Records), on the other 1973 with an appearance on a show hosted by Bill Cosby , who adored him.

Around this time, good friendships developed with rock star Alice Cooper - the two were photographed together for Rolling Stone - and with Dick Cavett , on whose talk show he appeared regularly. His earlier work reappeared in the company of new books of interviews and conversations with Richard J. Anobile and Charlotte Chandler . He had his last big appearance at the Academy Awards in 1974 , where he received an honorary Oscar on behalf of all the Marx Brothers.

At this point, Groucho was already weakened by his age and his last years were accompanied by a worsening dementia. There were also discussions about his legacy as he developed a controversial relationship with actress Erin Fleming . His son Arthur in particular felt that Fleming was straining his father far beyond his endurance.

Groucho Marx died in 1977 of pneumonia . The official memorial service was held at the Beth-El Synagogue in Hollywood. He was cremated and buried in Mission Hills Eden Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles . In an interview he joked that he wanted to be buried through Marilyn Monroe and that his grave should read “Excuse me, I can't stand up”. In the end, only his stage name and his birth and death dates were recorded on it. At the time of his death, he was the eldest of the Marx Brothers at the age of 86; Zeppo died two years after him.

Groucho was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1751 Vine Street .

Filmography

Works (selection)

  • Beds. Farrar & Rinehart, New York 1930 (German: Bettgeschichten [= Fischer 4467]. From the American by Reinhard Kaiser. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-596-24467-6 ).
  • with Norman Krasna : Time for Elizabeth. A comedy in three acts. Dramatists Play Service, New York 1949 (play).
  • Groucho and Me . Geis Associates, New York 1959 (autobiography; German: School of Smiles. Transferred by Ursula von Wiese. Sanssouci-Verlag, Zurich 1961; also in: Groucho & Marx. Two autobiographies. Translated and with an extensive afterword by Sven Böttcher. Atrium- Verlag, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-85535-506-8 ).
  • Memoirs of a Mangy Lover. Manor Books, New York 1963 (German: Ein battered Frauenheld [= Fischer 4480, Fischer-Cinema]. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-596-24480-3 ; later: Memoirs of a pointed rag. Newly translated and with annotations provided by Sven Böttcher, Rogner and Bernhard at Two Thousands, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-8077-0321-7 ).
  • The Groucho Letters. Letters from and to Groucho Marx. Simon and Schuster, New York 1967 (German: Die Groucho-Letters. Selected and translated into German by Alain Wilcock. Carl Hanser, Munich et al. 1981, ISBN 3-446-13177-9 ).
  • Groucho & Marx: two autobiographies , by Groucho Marx, translated and with extensive afterword by Sven Böttcher , Atrium, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-85535-506-8 .

Songs (selection)

literature

  • Charlotte Chandler: Groucho and Friends . Rogner & Bernhard at Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt / Main and Munich 1984, ISBN 3-8077-0200-8 .
  • same: Groucho. The head of the Marx Brothers . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-453-00815-4 . (Hello, I must be going . Doubleday, New York 1978)
  • Ulrich Hoppe: The Marx Brothers. Your films - your life. Heyne, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-453-86077-2 .
  • Rainer Nolden: The Marx Brothers . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002, ISBN 3-499-50454-5 .
  • Michael Schulte: Why didn't you marry the horse? Groucho Marx - His Life . Piper, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-492-11279-X .
  • Lee Siegel: Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence. Yale University Press, New Haven 2016, ISBN 978-0-300-17445-8 .
  • Alain Wilcock (Ed.): The Groucho Letters. Letters from and to Groucho Marx . Fischer-TB-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1984, ISBN 3-596-23693-2 .

Web links

Commons : Groucho Marx  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Groucho Marx  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rainer Nolden: The Marx Brothers . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2002, p. 97
  2. ↑ The CD Groucho on Radio (Label: Radiola / Radio Yesteryear) contains u. a. Excerpts from The Marx Brothers Show (1938) and You Bet Your Life (1950).
  3. ↑ Charlotte Chandler: Groucho. The head of the Marx Brothers . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1988, p. 513
  4. ↑ Charlotte Chandler: Groucho. The head of the Marx Brothers , p. 513
  5. ^ Grave of Groucho Marx. knerger.de
personal data
SURNAME Marx, Groucho
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marx, Julius Henry (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and entertainer
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH 19th August 1977
Place of death los Angeles