**The Marx Brothers** in 1931 (from top: **Chico**, **Harpo**, **Groucho** and **Zeppo**)
The **Marx Brothers** were a popular team of sibling comedians who appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, movie, and television. 

The only known photo of the entire Marx family, c. 1915. From left: Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Sam (father), Chico, and Harpo.
The five brothers, just prior to their only television appearance together, on the *Tonight! America After Dark*, hosted by Jack Lescoulie, February 18, 1957; from left: Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Groucho and Gummo
The brothers were Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

Early life
----------

Born in New York City, the Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany. Their mother, Minnie Schönberg, was from Dornum in East Frisia, and their father Simon Marrix (whose name was changed to Sam Marx, and who was nicknamed "Frenchy") was a native of Alsace, now part of France, and worked as a tailor. The family lived in the then-poor Yorkville section of New York City's Upper East Side, between the Irish, German and Italian Quarters.

Careers
-------

The Marx Brothers began as a musical group, during the days of vaudeville theater. They would make jokes, play funny characters, and pretend to get into fights when they performed. In time their 
antics
 got them more applause (and work) than their music, and they became a comedy group. Music stayed in their act, with the brothers performing in character, but their focus was on getting laughs. Makeup and costumes gave their characters their look. When the brothers were out of costume, they could blend into the audience.

Gummo did not appear in any of the movies. In the movies, each brother played a role that was mostly the same in every movie. Groucho was a "wise guy" who had big bushy eyebrows, glasses, and a moustache who smoked a cigar; Chico spoke with an Italian accent and played the piano; Harpo never spoke and played the harp. Zeppo usually played the straight man. He left the group in 1933, and they worked with other actors. Margaret Dumont played the leading lady role in many of their shows. She did not appear to know when a joke was made about her, and this made her role funnier.

The brothers had some good years and some bad years. Groucho lost a lot of money in 1929, when the stock market collapsed. (Years later, he visited the New York Stock Exchange, and drew so much attention that trading stopped for several minutes. Groucho joked that he came "to get his money's worth" in stopping business.) Chico had a problem with gambling, and lost more money than he won at it. Harpo and his wife could not have children of their own, so they adopted enough to have a large family. (When Adolf Hitler took control of Germany in the 1930s, and stories came back about his mistreatment of Jewish people, Harpo legally changed his name from Adolph to Arthur, even though he was better known as Harpo.)

Groucho kept working after his brothers retired. He hosted a television quiz show called *You Bet Your Life*, which was more liked for Groucho's way of hosting than for the game itself. He made a few movie and television appearances late in his life. He also appeared at Carnegie Hall, telling stories about his life and career, and singing songs from every part of his career. A recording of his Carnegie Hall show became a 
best-seller
.

Filmography
-----------

### The Marx Brothers films

| Film | U.S. release date | Director(s) | Plot | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| *Humor Risk* | December 1921 | Al Posen | Harpo plays a detective who makes his entrance in a high hat, sliding down the coal chute into the basement after Groucho, an old-movie villain accompanied by Chico, his "chuckling [Italian] henchman". Takes place in a nightclub owned by Zeppo and a cabaret. | Lost |
| *The Cocoanuts* | May 23, 1929 | Robert Florey
Joseph Santley | Groucho runs the Hotel de Cocoanut during the Florida land boom and attempts to avoid bankrupty by courting the rich widow Mrs. Potter. | Based on 1925 musical |
| *Animal Crackers* | August 23, 1930 | Victor Heerman | The African explorer Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding returns to a lavish reception from Mrs. Rittenhouse. | Based on 1928 musical |
| *Monkey Business* | September 19, 1931 | Norman Z. McLeod | The Marx Brothers are stowaways on a boat and wind up with rival gangsters. | released by Paramount |
| *Horse Feathers* | August 10, 1932 | Norman Z. McLeod | Huxley college has not won a football game since 1888, but Groucho intends to change that as the new headmaster. |
| *Duck Soup* | November 17, 1933 | Leo McCarey | In the fictional country of Freedonia, Rufus T. Firefly is appointed to fix the finances and goes to war. |
| *A Night at the Opera* | November 15, 1935 | Sam Wood | Otis B. Driftwood manages an opera company, but by associating with Harpo and Chico he may lose it. | released by MGM, highly rated |
| *A Day at the Races* | June 11, 1937 | Irving Thalberg | Hi-Hat must win the horse races to finance the Standish Sanitarium, now under control of Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush. |
| *Room Service* | September 21, 1938 | William A. Seiter | Gordon Miller and his friends must stay in a hotel room until they get a backer for the play. | Based on 1937 play |
| *At the Circus* | October 20, 1939 | Edward Buzzell | The circus act must get 10,000 and a venue to succeed with help from a lawyer. |  |
| *Go West* | December 6, 1940 | Edward Buzzell | The Marx Brothers must get a land deed worth a lot of money. | Only period film |
| *The Big Store* | June 20, 1941 | Charles Reisner | The Phelp's department store gets a private detective to protect singer Tommy Rogers | Intended to be last |
| *A Night in Casablanca* | May 10, 1946 | Archie Mayo | The hotel Casablanca has had mysterious deaths of its managers, and a Nazi spy is at large so they get new manager Ronald Kornblow. | For Chico's gambling debts. |
| *Love Happy* | October 12, 1949 | David Miller | The Marx Brothers help a new Broadway act. |

Solo endeavors:

* Groucho:
	+ *Copacabana* (1947), released by United Artists
	+ *Double Dynamite* (1951), released by RKO
	+ *A Girl in Every Port* (1952), released by RKO
	+ *Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?* (1957), released by 20th Century Fox (uncredited)
	+ *The Mikado* (1960), made for television
	+ *Skidoo* (1968), released by Paramount.
* Harpo:
	+ *Too Many Kisses* (1925), released by Paramount
	+ *Stage Door Canteen* (1943), released by United Artists (cameo)
* Chico:
	+ *Papa Romani* (1950), television pilot
* Zeppo:
	+ *A Kiss in the Dark* (1925), released by Paramount (cameo)