Marx Brothers, The

Marx Brothers, The, comedians. The riotous team consisted of five brothers: Chico (né Leonard] (1887?–1961), Harpo [né Adolph] (1888?–1964), Groucho [né Julius] (1890?–1977), Gummo [né Milton] (1895?–1977), and Zeppo [né Herbert] (1901?–79). All were born in New York, the grandchildren of performers in Germany. Their mother was the sister of comedian Al Shean, of Gallagher and Shean fame. Pushed by their classic stage mother, they appeared in vaudeville in 1909 as “The Three (or Four) Nightingales.” Gummo left the act early on, and Zeppo joined the act in the 1910s. During the 1920s they played in three successful Broadway musicals: I'll Say She Is (1924), The Cocoanuts (1925), and Animal Crackers (1928). Chico portrayed a high‐strung, fast‐dealing Sicilian. Harpo, forever mute, hurried across the stage in a red wig, battered hat, and tattered, ill‐fitting clothes, chasing girls and stealing everything he could. Groucho, dressed in a poorly tailored morning suit, walking with a deep‐kneed crouch, and flourishing his cigar and a painted‐on mustache and boxy eyebrows, was at the ready with a wisecrack. Zeppo, the handsomest of the group, was that act's straight man. Both Chico and Harpo had musical talents, which they incorporated into their routines, Chico playing the piano with his singular method of seemingly shooting his fingers at the keys, and Harpo performing, appropriately but often with surprising seriousness, on the harp. The team regularly disconcerted both authors and fellow players by departing from rehearsed texts to ad lib through a scene. In the 1930s they enjoyed an immensely popular film career, returning to the stage only rarely and then usually not as a team but as single performers. Groucho also had a popular radio and television quiz program. The brothers have been the subject of plays and musicals, such as Minnie's Boys (1970), A Day in Hollywood—A Night in the Ukraine (1980), and Groucho: A Life in Revue (1986). Autobiographies: Groucho and Me, 1959; Harpo Speaks, 1961; biographies: The Marx Brothers, Kyle Crichton, 1950; Life with Groucho, Arthur Marx (his son), 1952; Groucho, Harpo, Chico—and Sometimes Zeppo, J. Adamson, 1973.