A visit to the Marx Brothers

Most of us were not alive when the Marx Brothers were at their height, but they remain one of the classic great acts. So we are showing some of their acts, so you can make your own decision.

In all there were 6 Marx Brothers, born to German/French immigrant parents in the last decades of the 19th century:-
Chico     born 1887
Harpo    born 1888
Groucho born 1890
were the main trio, but there was also:-
Gummo  born 1892
Zeppo     born 1901
Manfred was the first born in 1886 but died of TB aged 3 months.

The brothers were from a family of artists, and their musical talent was encouraged from an early age. Harpo was particularly talented, learning to play an estimated six different instruments throughout his career. He became a dedicated harpist, which gave him his nickname. Chico was an excellent pianist, Groucho a guitarist and singer, and Zeppo a vocalist.

They got their start in vaudeville, where their uncle Albert Schönberg performed as Al Shean of Gallagher and Shean . Groucho’s debut was in 1905, mainly as a singer. By 1907, he and Gummo were singing together as “The Three Nightingales” with Nabel O’Donnell The next year, Harpo became the fourth Nightingale and by 1910, the group briefly expanded to include their mother Minnie and their Aunt Hannah. The troupe was renamed “The Six Mascots”

One evening in 1912, a performance at the Opera House in Nacogdoches, Texas, was interrupted by shouts from outside about a runaway mule. The audience hurried out to see what was happening. Groucho was angered by the interruption and, when the audience returned, he made snide comments at their expense, including “Nacogdoches is full of roaches” and “the jackass is the flower of Tex-ass”. Instead of becoming angry, the audience laughed. The family then realized that it had potential as a comic troupe.

According to a September 1947 article in Newsweek, Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo all signed to appear as themselves in a biopic entitled The Life and Times of the Marx Brothers. In addition to being a non-fiction biography of the Marxes, the film would have featured the brothers re-enacting much of their previously unfilmed material from both their vaudeville and Broadway eras. The film, had it been made, would have been the first performance by the Brothers as a quartet since 1933.

The five brothers made only one television appearance together, in 1957, on an early incarnation of The Tonight Show called  Tonight! America after dark hosted by Jack Lescoulie Five years later (October 1, 1962) after Jack Paar’s tenure, Groucho made a guest appearance to introduce the Tonight Show’s new host, Jonhnny Carson.

In October 1961, Chico died. Harpo followed in 1964, Groucho and Gummo in 1977  and Zeppo in 1979.

Their place in comedic history is assured. Their full biographies are available under Wikpedia or other sites visible online.