The youngest of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo was put into the role of the straight man after his brother Gummo left the act. Zeppo also acted as an understudy to all three of his brothers, and he has been said to have played Grouchos part better than Groucho himself. After playing small parts in the first five Marx Brothers movies, Zeppo felt his talent wasn't being used to its full extent and left the act to join Gummo as an agent. Somewhat of a mechanical whiz, Zeppo invented a wristwatch that would monitor the pulse rate of cardiac patients, and his company, Marman Products, produced clamping devices which were used in the first atomic bomb raids over Japan in 1945. Zeppo died on November 30th, 1979 from cancer.
Brother of Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx and Gummo Marx Ashes scattered at sea. Brother-in-law of Eden Hartford, Ruth Johnson, Kay Marvis and Susan Fleming Uncle of Arthur Marx, Maxine Marx, Bob Marx, Melinda Marx and Bill Marx Throughout his life, he had many careers including inventor, talent agent, manufacturer, commercial fisherman and grapefruit grower. Nephew of actor Al Shean. In real life, he was supposedly the funniest of his brothers despite always playing the straight man in their films. Son of Sam Marx. He was a serious amateur machinist, and among the products his company, Marman, developed in the late 1940s was a 2-cylinder motorized bicycle, the Marman Twin (produced 1948-49). Unfortunately, his bike was unable to compete with the more established Whizzers, despite being far more powerful. These bikes are highly collectible today. One of only two Marx Brothers to play a recurring role in their films (not counting when they used their own names). He played the role of "Jamison" in both The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers. Since he'd missed out when his brothers received their nicknames, he was given one by his siblings. He was always practicing acrobatics, so he was named "Zippo" -- after "Mr. Zippo," the star of a well-known chimpanzee act. Feeling it was unflattering, he insisted it be Zeppo. He was portrayed by actor Alvin Kupperman in the Broadway musical "Minnie's Boys," which ran an at the Imperial Theatre for 80 Performances from Mar 26 to May 30, 1970. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving Marx Brother. Great-uncle of Jade Marx-Berti, Gregg Marx, Laura Guzik and Brett Marx