Gummo Marx

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gummo in 1916 when he joined the army

Milton Marx (born October 23, 1892 in New York City , † April 21, 1977 there ), known as Gummo Marx , was an American actor and owner of an artist agency . At times he was a member of the later very successful comedian group Marx Brothers .

Life

Gummo Marx was the fifth son of Minnie and Sam Marx and grew up in the Upper East Side of New York. Her successful brother Al Shean inspired Minnie early on to invest in an acting career for her sons. As early as 1901, Gummo, who was very small for his age, was supposed to be the "voice from the stomach" for her brother Henry (or Harry) in his ventriloquist number (hidden in a large doll). However, the number failed after just two weeks because of Henry's hearing loss and Gummo's speech impediment, who stuttered slightly at the time .

The older brothers found his first name Milton so silly that they named him Gummo because of his preference for shoes with thick rubber soles. Since he ended his acting career before the Marx Brothers switched from the theater to the big screen, he has remained the most unknown of the five brothers to this day. “They owe their success entirely to me. I left the group. "

In 1907 Minnie Marx managed to get an engagement from the Three Nightingales in New York. This group initially consisted of Groucho , Gummo and sixteen-year-old Mabel O'Donnel. When Harpo joined, they called themselves The Four Nightingales . Gummo said at the time: “We couldn't sing, we couldn't dance. We became comedians because we had no other choice. ” During this period of vaudeville, Gummo played the role that was later taken on by Zeppo in the films . When the Marx Brothers ( Chico had joined the company in 1912) finally made it to Broadway in 1915 , Gummo decided to quit the company because "I realized I was a lousy actor" .

Gummo enlisted in the army in 1916 . His mother said goodbye with the words: "We don't need you anyway."

He returned to acting again in 1920. In the first silent film by the Marx Brothers he appeared together with the three older brothers and the youngest brother Zeppo. The film Humorisk was never shown regularly.

On March 16, 1929, Gummo married Helen von Tilzer, then 22 years old. Their son Robert was born on March 15, 1930.

After Gummo went bankrupt with a clothing company in the wake of the global economic crisis , he founded an artist agency, which flourished after a few initial difficulties and which Zeppo later joined. With a few exceptions, the agency rarely represented the Marx Brothers because they were too demanding and not cooperative enough, said Zeppo.

Helen von Tilzer died on January 20, 1976 at the age of 68. Gummo died on April 21, 1977 at the age of 84. Since Groucho was doing very badly at the time, the news of Gummo's death was not brought to him and only Zeppo came to his funeral.

Web links

Footnotes and individual references

  1. ↑ Hector Arce: Groucho. Putnam, New York NY 1979, ISBN 0-399-12046-7 .
  2. ^ "I attribute their success entirely to me. I quit the act. “ In: Paul Duncan (Ed.): Marx Bros (= Movie Icons ). Taschen, Hong Kong et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8228-2219-7 , p. 25.
  3. ^ A b c Groucho Marx, Richard J. Anobile: The Marx Bros. Scrapbook. Darien House, New York NY 1973, ISBN 0-517-51546-6 .
  4. ^ Rainer Nolden: The Marx Brothers (= Rororo 50454). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-499-50454-4 .
personal data
SURNAME Marx, Gummo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marx, Milton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comedian
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York State , USA
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 1977
Place of death New York City , New York State, USA