Groucho, Chico, and Harpo Marx
in At the Circus (1939)
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Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was a
vaudeville, film, and television star and ranks with Dorothy Parker as one
of America's greatest wits. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the
Marx Brothers. He also had a
successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television
game show "You Bet Your Life."
The Marx brothers' mother, Minnie, pushed her five sons into show business:
Julius (Groucho), Milton (Gummo), Adolph (Harpo), Leonard (Chico), and Herbert (Zeppo).
She successfully managed to assemble three sons into a third-rate
vaudeville singing group billed as 'The Four Nightingales After a particularly disappointing performance in Nacogdoches, Texas, Julius,
Milton, and Adolph began cracking jokes onstage for their own amusement.
Much to their surprise, the audience liked them better as comedians than
singers.
The Marx Bother comedy act soon became one of the top headliners in
vaudeville. They eventually moved their comedy act to Broadway and starred in such
vehicles as
The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers which were
major hits. Soon Hollywood called, and the Marx Brothers became major films
stars. Groucho made 26 movies, thirteen of them with his brothers Chico and
Harpo. Groucho carried over his
distinctive vaudeville appearance to films including glasses, cigars, a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows , and a distinctive
chicken-walking lope. The Marx Brothers made some of their Broadway hits
into movies, including The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers
(1930)
Other successful films were Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers
(1932), Duck Soup (1933), and A Night at the Opera (1935). |
"You Bet Your Life" premiered in October 1947 on
radio on ABC and then on CBS and finally NBC and ran until May 1961 -- on
radio only 1947-1950, on both radio and television 1950-1956, and on
television only 1956-1961. The show was an one of the most popular in the
history of radio and television. Groucho stayed his audiences with
extraordinary improvised conversation, usually with the most ordinary of
guests.
Above all, it was Groucho' s wit that made him
unique. A few of his famous quotes include:
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"Military justice is to justice what
military music is to music."
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes? "
"Getting older is no problem. You just have to live long enough."
"If I held you any closer I would be on the other side of you."
"Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot"
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have
others."
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What a better way to celebrate
Julius Henry
Marx's
birthday, than the famous Duck Soup and watching
the equally famous film?
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