The bushy-browed, cigar-smoking, wisecraker with the painted on mustache and stooped walk was the leader of the Marx Brothers. With one-liners that were many times full of sexual innuendo, Groucho never used profanity in any of his performances, and said he never wanted to be known as a dirty comic. With a great love of music and singing, (the Marx Brothers started as a singing group), one of the things Groucho was best known for was his rendition of the song "Lydia the Tattooed Lady".


A Day at the Races (1937): $175,000 + 15% of gross
A Night at the Opera (1935): $175,000 + 15% of gross

Was told by studio executive Walter Wanger to lose the greasepaint moustache as it was an "obvious fake". (Source: Joseph Adamson III in his book Groucho, Harpo, Chico and sometimes Zeppo (1973) Brother of Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Gummo Marx and Zeppo Marx. When talking about Margaret Dumont, the actress who frequently played the dowager who acted as a punching bag for Groucho's verbal insults, he claimed the secret to their chemistry is that she never understood what he was saying. Had a fifth brother, Gummo Marx, who performed with the other brothers in vaudeville. He left the act before the brothers started to make movies. He remained close to Groucho for the rest of his life. The FBI had a file on him after he made some jokes about communism. Brother-in-law of Barbara Marx, Susan Fleming and Dee Hartford A famous gag toy was modeled after his face - the dark black glasses with big orange nose and mustache "disguise" toy (known as the "Beagle-Puss" in the gag shop market.). George Fenneman, Groucho's announcer on "You Bet Your Life" (1950), was once asked if Groucho ever embarrassed him on the air. "Each and every show," Fenneman replied. In the 1950s Groucho was invited to take a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. While in the observation booth, he grabbed the public address system handset and began singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady". Upon hearing silence coming from the trading floor, he walked into view, was given a loud cheer by the traders, and shouted, "Gentlemen, in 1929 I lost eight hundred thousand dollars on this floor, and I intend to get my money's worth!" For fifteen minutes, he sang, danced, told jokes, and all this time, the Wall Street stock ticker was running blank. At the time of his death he was not aware that his brother Gummo Marx had passed away four months earlier. His family believed that it was a kindness not to tell him. In 1989, the Republic of Abkhazia (in the former Soviet Georgia) proclaimed independence. To show the world they were rejecting their Communist past, they issued two postage stamps of Groucho Marx and John Lennon (as opposed to Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin). Long-time companion of Erin Fleming. Smashed a violin onstage at Carnegie Hall, in a mock "tribute" to Jack Benny. His double album "An Evening with Groucho" (A&M: 1972), recorded at a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall, was a suprise best-seller and a Grammy nominee for Best Comedy Recording. His accompanist on that occasion was the then unknown Marvin Hamlisch. Was the quiet, introverted middle brother of 5, and suffered the middle sibling condition. He never got as much attention as his older brothers (Chico Marx & Harpo Marx), who were wild and charming, or his two younger brothers (Zeppo Marx & Gummo Marx), who were cuter. The plus side of this outsider status was that he developed a cutting wit to get attention. Was good friends with rock star Alice Cooper, often inviting him over at 11:00 pm to watch TV. A drawing of Groucho can also be seen on the cover of "Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits" album. In 1978, when the original giant white letters of the famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign were auctioned off in order to raise money for new replacement letters, Alice bought an "O" in memory of Groucho. He was voted, as one of The Marx Brothers, the 62nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by "Entertainment Weekly". Was intended to make a joke on the set of William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973) by appearing in Father Merrin's clothes when Ellen Burstyn opened the door. However, the idea was dropped due to scheduling conflicts. Was named, as The Marx Brothers, the #20 Greatest Actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends List by The American Film Institute. Carried on extensive correspondence with such literary giants as T.S. Eliot and Carl Sandburg. He also was well-known for attaching a hilarious P.S. to his most serious letters. According to Dick Cavett, Groucho added this P.S. to a lengthy account of his memories of Charles Chaplin from vaudeville days: ""Did you ever notice that Peter O'Toole has a double-phallic name?" The famous phrase "Well, who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" is often referred to as a Groucho quote, but it was actually delivered by Chicolini (Chico Marx) in Duck Soup (1933) while impersonating Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho). Knew Charles Chaplin during his vaudeville days. His son Arthur Marx was once smoking a corncob pipe in his room when he heard his father coming down the hall. In a panic, he stuffed the still-lit pipe into a drawer. Groucho came in, sniffed the air and left without a word. A moment later he was back with a briar pipe and a pouch of tobacco. "This will be better than that corncob you're using," he said. Arthur asked if his father was angry and Groucho said, "Nonsense. Smoking won't hurt you. I've been smoking for years, and aside from the fact that I feel terrible all the time it hasn't hurt me, either!". In the Broadway play "A Day in Hollywood--A Night in the Ukraine," which opened on May 1, 1980, and closed on Sep 27, 1981 (for 588 performances), a Groucho-type character, Moscow lawyer Serge B. Samovar, was played by David Garrison. When he died in 1977, he left an estate valued at $2 million. He sang "Everybody Works But Father" in both English and German on "The Dick Cavett Show". W.C. Fields said that The Marx Brothers were the only act he couldn't follow on the live stage. He is known to have appeared on the same bill with them only once, during an engagement at Keith's Orpheum Theatre in Columbus, OH, in January 1915. At the time the Marx Brothers were touring "Home Again", and it didn't take Fields long to realize how his quiet comedy juggling act was faring against the anarchy of the Marxes. Fields later wrote of the engagement (and the Marxes), "They sang, danced, played harp and kidded in zany style. Never saw so much nepotism or such hilarious laughter in one act in my life. The only act I could never follow . . . I told the manager I broke my wrist and quit.".