S TUTTERING FOUND A TION CELEBRITY CORNER GUMMO MARX STUTTERING COMEDY LEGEND & HOLLYWOOD ICON
The story of the Marx Brothers needs no introduction. Five brothers, the sons of Jewish immigrants Sam and Minnie (Schoenberg) Marx, started their careers as young vaudeville performers. After graduating to Broadway success, they became international movie stars with the release of their first movie in 1929, The Cocoanuts. In total, the Marx Brothers would star in 13 movies, many of which were wildly successful commercially. Five of their films appeared on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 comedy films; two of the five, Duck Soup (1935) and A Night at the Opera (1935), were placed in the top fifteen.
The Marx Brothers, who went by their stage names, were Chico (Leonard), Harpo (Adolph), Groucho (Julius), Gummo (Milton) and Zeppo (Herbert). Chico, Harpo, Groucho and Gummo performed together on vaudeville for 13 years as “The Four Marx Brothers.” Only on one occasion did all five brothers appear on stage together: a 14-year-old Zeppo joined his brothers for a single performance in Flint, Michigan. Gummo, disenchanted with acting, left the act to join the U.S. Army to serve in World War I. In order to continue as “The Four Marx Brothers,” Zeppo was recruited to the vaudeville act to take Gummo’s place.
Zeppo appeared with Chico, Harpo and Groucho in the first five movies, playing the straight man or romantic lead to the zany comedy of his brothers. He would be the first to leave the fold to pursue a career as an engineer and inventor. He later became a theatrical agent.
Gummo left acting primarily because, unlike other people who stutter who found fluency while acting, his stuttering impeded him in delivering his lines. While he performed with his brothers for 13 years, it became extremely difficult for him as the brothers’ act shifted from song and dance to verbal comedy. After leaving, Milton “Gummo” Marx became a highly successful agent for not only his brothers but also many other notable Hollywood actors. He also helped develop TV sitcoms, such as The Life of Riley.
Top: Gummo Marx
Bottom from left: Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Groucho, and Gummo Marx, 1957.
41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
