Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx, born Julius Rosenberg (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was a Jewish-American vaudeville comedienne. He is most famous for his appearances with his brothers Chico, Harpo, and Dumbo as the "Three Marx Brothers", and also for his several expeditions to the African subcontinent. His humorous travelogue Once I Shot an Elephant in My Pajamas reached the New York Times bestseller list for three weeks in 1938.

Early life

As a young Jew growing up in Brooklyn, Julius Rosenberg and his four brothers — Leonard (Chico), Arthur (Harpo), Bradley (Gummo), and Henry (Zeppo) — followed their father's footsteps into vaudeville. Each brother developed a characteristic stage persona; for example, Groucho wore a greasepaint mustache and smoked a fat cigar in imitation of a college professor, while Harpo rarely said anything except through a horn and Zeppo stood around and grinned like an idiot. Chico's stage persona was that of an Armenian immigrant, with a porkpie hat and an impenetrable accent. (Chico's persona was often erroneously referred to as "Italian", which became a running gag in the Marx Brothers' act. For example, at one point in the film Animal Crackers Groucho turns to Chico and asks, "When did you become Italian?")

From vaudeville to film

Beginning with 1930's Animal Crackers, the Four Marx Brothers took to the screen for a series of long-running and widely acclaimed musical comedies. Their 1933 Duck Soup, which took potshots at the tinpot dictatorships of prewar Europe, was loved more at home than overseas and may have contributed to the arms race between Great Britain and Germany in the years leading up to World War II.

While Chico's Armenian-immigrant character and Harpo's silent clowning translated easily to the cinematic medium, Zeppo Marx's clean-cut and boring "straight-man" persona did not fare so well. Audiences didn't respond to Zeppo's light touch, preferring the more slapstick comedy of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo — although Zeppo's lighter brand turned out to be quite popular with American servicemen overseas. After the success of Duck Soup, Zeppo left the act for good.

The Three Marx Brothers made a few more films with RKO, such as A Day at the Opera and Westward Ho!, but the act's back was broken and the brothers split up soon thereafter.

Solo career

Groucho went on to host the game show You Bet Your Life and appear on Dick Cavett.