The surname Marx is a Germanic surname, believed to originate with Mark the Evangelist and the Roman praenomen Marcus, the latter deriving from the god Mars. The similarly-spelled Marks may share etymology with march (territory), especially near Wales, but most British Marxes have Jewish roots, typically in the Rhineland or former Pale of Settlement. [1] Famously, Karl Marx's father, born Herschel HaLevi Mordecai in Saarlouis, assimilated in 1817 or 1818 to Heinrich Marx because Prussia banned Jews from public service. [2] Amateur geneologist Colin Shelley suggests that Marx' prevalence there may have arisen as a macaronic acronym for māšīaḥ rex . [1]
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He was a master of quick wit and is considered one of America's greatest comedians.
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' fourteen 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. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively.
Animal Crackers is a 1930 American pre-Code Marx Brothers comedy film directed by Victor Heerman. The film stars the Marx Brothers,, with Lillian Roth and Margaret Dumont, based on the Marxes’ Broadway musical of the same name. Mayhem and zaniness ensue during a weekend party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding. A critical and commercial success upon its initial release, Animal Crackers was shot at Paramount's Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, the second film the Brothers would make in New York City.
Duck Soup is a 1933 American pre-Code musical black comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and directed by Leo McCarey. Released by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it stars the four Marx Brothers and also features Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. Duck Soup was the last of the five Marx Brothers films released by Paramount Pictures. In the film, Groucho portrays the newly installed president of the fictional country of Freedonia. Zeppo is his secretary, while Chico and Harpo are spies for the neighboring country of Sylvania. Relations between Firefly and the Sylvanian ambassador (Calhern) deteriorate during the film, eventually leading the two countries to war.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German philosopher, economist and founder of Marxism.
Arthur "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of vaudeville, clown and pantomime traditions. In all of his movie appearances, he wore a curly reddish blonde wig and did not speak, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate. Marx frequently employed props such as a horn cane constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn.
Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx was an American comedian, actor and pianist. He was the oldest brother in the Marx Brothers comedy troupe, alongside his brothers Arthur ("Harpo"), Julius ("Groucho"), Milton ("Gummo") and Herbert ("Zeppo"). His persona in the act was that of a charming, uneducated but crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. On screen, Chico is often in alliance with Harpo, usually as partners in crime, and is also frequently seen trying to con or outfox Groucho. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood, the first-born being Manfred Marx who had died in infancy. In addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years.
Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx was an American comedic actor. He was the youngest, and last survivor, of the five Marx Brothers. He appeared in the first five Marx Brothers feature films from 1929 to 1933, and then left the act for careers as an engineer and theatrical agent.
Milton "Gummo" Marx was an American vaudevillian performer, actor, comedian, and theatrical agent. He was the second youngest of the five Marx Brothers. Born in Manhattan, he worked with his brothers on the vaudeville circuit, leaving the act when he was drafted into the US Army in 1918 during World War I and replaced by his brother Zeppo. He had no taste for the theatre and became a successful businessman.
Susan Alva Fleming was an American actress and the wife of comic actor Harpo Marx and sister in law to Groucho, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo. Fleming was known as the "Girl with the Million Dollar Legs" for a role she played in the W. C. Fields film Million Dollar Legs (1932). Her big stage break, which led to her Hollywood career, was as a Ziegfeld girl, performing in Rio Rita.
Minnie Marx was the mother and manager of the Marx Brothers, a family of top-billed vaudevillians, top Broadway stars and, finally, film stars. She was also the sister of comedian and vaudeville star Al Shean.
The Cocoanuts is a 1929 pre-Code musical comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. Produced for Paramount Pictures by Walter Wanger, who is not credited, the film also stars Mary Eaton, Oscar Shaw, Margaret Dumont and Kay Francis. The first sound film to credit more than one director, it was adapted to the screen by Morrie Ryskind from the George S. Kaufman Broadway musical play. Five of the film's tunes were composed by Irving Berlin, including "When My Dreams Come True", sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton.
Monkey Business is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film. It is the third of the Marx Brothers' released movies, and the first with an original screenplay rather than an adaptation of one of their Broadway shows. The film also features Thelma Todd, Harry Woods and Ruth Hall and Rockliffe Fellowes. It is directed by Norman Z. McLeod with screenplay by S. J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone.
Hawkshaw the Detective was a comic strip character featured in an eponymous cartoon serial by Gus Mager from February 23, 1913, to November 12, 1922, and again from December 13, 1931, to 1952. The name of Mager's character was derived from the common American slang of the time, in which a hawkshaw meant a detective—that slang itself derived from playwright Tom Taylor's use of the name for the detective in his 1863 stage play The Ticket of Leave Man.
I'll Say She Is (1924) is a musical comedy revue written by brothers Will B. Johnstone and Tom Johnstone (music). It was the Broadway debut of the Marx Brothers. The initial production premiered in June 1923 at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before its national tour.
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians is a 1970 American animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. After the Christmas special Frosty the Snowman (1969), it was Rankin/Bass' second hand-drawn animated work to be outsourced to Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production in Tokyo, Japan. The show aired on ABC on April 7, 1970 before the airing of that year's Oscars. It was a tribute to early vaudeville, and featured animated reworkings of various famous comedians' acts.
Samuel Simon Marx was the father of the American entertainers known as the Marx Brothers, stars of vaudeville, Broadway and film, and the husband of Minnie Marx, who served as the group's manager.
Ol' Brown Ears Is Back is an album released by The Jim Henson Company through BMG Kidz in 1993. The album consists of 14 songs recorded by American puppeteer Jim Henson as the Muppet character Rowlf the Dog. Although released three years after Henson's death, the tracks were recorded in 1984. It was released in CD and cassette form, with the latter including a poster.
Simon Louvish is a Scots-born Israeli author, writer and filmmaker. He has written many books about Avram Blok, a fictional Israeli caught up between wars, espionage, prophets, revolutions, loves, and a few near apocalypses.
Joe Adamson is an author of several books, including: