Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx was the front man and best known of the Marx Brothers. He was born in 1890 in New York and was the first of 5 surviving sons to go on the stage professionally which he did aged 15 in an act, now long forgotten, called The Leroy Trio. He is best known for playing sharp, wisecracking characters. He always sported a cigar, a moustache made of dark greasepaint and walked with a half crouch.

When his brothers eventually joined him they had a stage success with the musical comedy called I'll Say She Is. It was before one of the performances of this show that Groucho got his painted moustache. Originally he found that it was so much quicker and easier to use greasepaint than a glued-on moustache that he used it from then on and it became one of his trademarks.

Groucho's real name was Julius, and his brothers were Leonard 'Chico', Adolph 'Harpo', Milton 'Gummo' and Herbert 'Zeppo'.

Groucho Marx did 26 movies total, of which 15 were with his brothers Chico and Harpo. The Marx Brothers made some of the wildest and offbeat movies in film history. They were extraordinary anarchists attacking everything from authority figures, the system and education, to politics, sex, war and the police, to the upper classes and culture in general. They combined their own brand of slapstick physical comedy with quick witted one-liners and puns, normally delivered by Groucho. Typical examples:
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to live in an institution?

I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.

As well as movie success, Groucho was, in the 1940's and 50's, the highly successful host of "You Bet Your Life" a quiz show on radio and television.

Groucho died on August 19th 1977 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. His ashes are at Eden Memorial Park, San Fernando, California.