Zeppo Marx

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Zeppo Marx (1931)

Herbert Marx (born February 25, 1901 in New York , † November 29, 1979 in Palm Springs , California ), known as Zeppo Marx , was an American actor and temporarily member of the comedy troupe of the Marx Brothers . He was the son of Minnie and Sam Marx.

Life

In the first five Marx Brothers films, Zeppo was the “straight man” of the troupe at whose expense the jokes were made, or the romantic lover before he gave up his acting career. His film character was so colorless that he couldn't stand up to the eccentric characters of his brothers Groucho , Harpo or Chico and “... the audience always mistook him for the extras” - as the cineast and film critic Georg Seeßlen wrote. His role was therefore often taken over by other actors in later films.

At one of his appearances, his brother Groucho Marx claimed that the name Zeppo came from being born in the same year that the first zeppelin blew up (this was, however, as early as 1900). Occasionally, the solo entertainer Art Fisher is named as the namesake. He is said to have given the brothers their nicknames based on a popular comic series at a poker game in Rockford, Illinois . According to Groucho, the Zippo lighters, with which Groucho used to light his cigars, could originally be used as namesake for the boxing and hot-headed bully. However, since the star of a chimpanzee dressage number was named "Mr. Zippo ”, Herbert was not particularly fond of this stage name and insisted on spelling this“ Zeppo ”.

Zeppo Marx owned a company that manufactured spare parts for war equipment during World War II and ran a successful theater agency with his fifth brother, Gummo Marx .

On April 12, 1927, Zeppo Marx married Marion Benda. Together they adopted a child, Timothy, in 1944. Their marriage was divorced on May 12, 1954. On September 18, 1959, he married Barbara Blakely (later wife of Frank Sinatra ), from whom he divorced in 1973.

He died of lung cancer on November 29, 1979 .

Shows

  • The Street Cinderella (1918)
  • On the Mezzanine Floor (1921)
  • I'll say she is (1923)
  • The Cocoanuts (1929)

Filmography

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Seeßlen: Classics of comedy films. History and mythology of comic films. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1982, ISBN 3-499-17424-3 (page 64).
  2. ^ Rainer Nolden: The Marx Brothers.
  3. Hector Arce: Groucho.