The brothers are best known by their stage names:Īnother brother, Manfred ("Mannie"), the firstborn son of Sam and Minnie, was born in 1886 and died in infancy: įamily lore told privately of the firstborn son, Manny, born in 1886 but surviving for only three months, and dying of tuberculosis. The family lived in the Yorkville district of New York City's Upper East Side, centered in the Irish, German and Italian quarters. His name was changed to Samuel Marx, and he was nicknamed "Frenchy". Their mother Miene "Minnie" Schoenberg (professionally known as Minnie Palmer, later the brothers' manager) was from Dornum in East Frisia, and their father Samuel ("Sam" born Simon) Marx was a native of Mertzwiller, a small Alsatian village, and worked as a tailor. The Marx Brothers were born in New York City, the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France. From left: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Sam (father), Chico, and Harpo
The only known photo of the entire surviving Marx family, c. The early performing lives of the brothers owed much to their mother, Minnie Marx (the sister of vaudeville comic Al Shean), who acted as their manager until her death in 1929. Gummo was not in any of the movies Zeppo appeared in the first five films in relatively straight (non-comedic) roles. Both left the act to pursue business careers at which they were successful, and for a time ran a large theatrical agency through which they represented their brothers and others.
The two younger brothers, Gummo and Zeppo, never developed their stage characters to the same extent as the elder three. After the group essentially disbanded in 1950, Groucho went on to a successful second career in television, while Harpo and Chico appeared less prominently. The core of the act was the three elder brothers: Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, each of whom developed a highly distinctive stage persona. There was a sixth brother, the first born, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory. The brothers are almost universally known by their stage names: Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo. 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be inducted collectively. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen. Plots are unimportant – it’s the gags, set-pieces and one-liners that matter: “Why a duck?”, “Hello, I Must Be Going”, “Hooray for Captain Spaulding”, “That’s the bunk!”, Horse Feathers’ “Swordfish” scene and classic mirror sequence in Duck Soup.The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. The Paramount era represents the Marx Brothers at their absolute finest, retaining all of the energy and controlled chaos of their stage shows. They made five films in five years, all of which are collected here: The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932) and one of the greatest comedies of all time, Duck Soup (1933). With the advent of the ‘talkies’, the Brothers signed to Paramount Pictures and brought their stage act to cinema audiences. Starting out in vaudeville, they conquered Broadway and the big screen in their own inimitable style, at once innovative, irreverent, anarchic, physical, musical, ludicrous and hilarious. The Marx Brothers – Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo – are one of the cornerstones of American comedy.
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