MARX BROTHERS

A madcap comedy team, the Marx Brothers—Leo (Chico, 1887–1961); Adolph (Harpo, 1888–1964); Julius Henry (Groucho, 1890–1977); and Herbert (Zeppo, 1901–1979)—began their careers in vaudeville before becoming motion picture stars in the 1930s. Born in New York City, the sons of German-Jewish immigrants, the brothers received a boost in their career from their uncle, Al Shean of the comedy duo "Gallagher and Shean." Billed as "The Four Marx Brothers" they worked in vaudeville until 1925, when they starred in the Broadway production of The Cocoanuts, a musical comedy written expressly for them by George S. Kaufman and Irving Berlin. Another Broadway hit followed with Animal Crackers in 1928. Though their screwball, improvisational style of comedy had evolved in front of the live audiences of vaudeville and Broadway, the Marx brothers made a successful transition to motion pictures with the release of a film version of The Cocoanuts (1929), followed a year later by Animal Crackers (1930). Their first two films were shot at Paramount's Long Island studios so that the brothers could continue to work on the New York stage. But for their third film, Monkey Business (1931), they relocated to Hollywood, California, where they would spend the rest of their careers.

Throughout the 1930s the Marx Brothers produced a string of successful motion pictures that rank among the most celebrated of Depression-era comedies: Horse Feathers (1932), Duck Soup (1933), A Night at the Opera (1935), A Day at the Races (1937), Room Service (1938), At the Circus (1939), and Go West (1940). They also displayed distinct comic personas: Chico was a wisecracking clown with an Italian accent; Groucho, with grease-paint mustache and cigar, often impersonated authority figures, maintaining a constant stream of one-liners and comic asides; Harpo, garbed in fright wig, trench coat, and crushed top hat, renounced speech altogether, preferring a bicycle horn and an absurdist sense of visual humor; Zeppo, the youngest brother, was the good-looking foil and occasional love interest in their films. Chico and Harpo were also accomplished musicians, and each of their films included a scene in which they performed, often to audiences of adoring children. Such moments punctuate the fast-paced verbal and visual humor of their films with intervals of musical and emotional poignancy. But the popularity of the Marx Brothers was based primarily upon the team's ability to lampoon authority figures and skewer the pretensions of the wealthy and powerful.

See Also: HOLLYWOOD AND THE FILM INDUSTRY; HUMOR.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Louvish, Simon. Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers. 1999.

Marx, Groucho. Groucho and Me. 1959.

Marx, Groucho, and Richard J. Anobile. The Marx Brothers Scrapbook. 1973.

Marx, Harpo. Harpo Speaks! 1961.

John Parris Springer