Marx Brothers Part III: Groucho

 

 

 

Apologies for the Marx Brothers series taking longer than expected. Everything has been hectic lately so I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and write. I knew Groucho's would take more time, however, not only because of his enduring legacy, but tumultuous personal life. In the simplest terms, Groucho was complex. He wasn't an angel, but that doesn't mean he was a devil. He was and is a comedy legend, even though his jokes had the tendency to revolve around the criticism of others -- that oftentimes being women. But there is a deeper story behind his misogynistic views, which I'll discuss later on. Although I'm a big fan of the Marx brothers and take the least bit of pride in my knowledge about them, I don't consider myself a Marx Bros historian or expert. Since I feel like I'm one of the few big Groucho fans in the virtual world though, it is a responsibility of mine to try my best to discourse his life, career, and legacy in the most honest and honorable way possible. Insert quote: "With great power comes great responsibility."

 

Anyway, I hope this particular tribute helps! :)

Groucho (age 12) and Harpo (age 14) with their rat terrier dog, ca. 1902.

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was born on October 2, 1890, on East 78th Street, Manhattan, New York in a room above a barber's shop. The true story of how he actually got his nickname has been up for much debate, but the most reasonable theory, and the one I believe, is that he got it from a comic strip.   

 

At age fourteen, he quit school and joined a vaudeville singing act called The Larong Trio. When Minnie learned he landed a job in show business she was thrilled and determined to enroll each of her boys on the stage one at a time, hoping they would be a success like her brother Al Shean. Followed by Groucho’s stage debut was Gummo. Then came Harpo, then Chico, and eventually Zeppo. The three brothers along with Lou Levy sang in an act called the Four Nightingales (The Three Nightingales before Harpo joined). Initially, a young girl named Mabel O’Donnell performed in Lou Levy’s place, but since she didn’t always sing on key, she was discharged in the spring of 1908.  

 

In 1909, the Four Nightingales was renamed to the Six Mascots when Minnie and her sister Hannah joined. That same year, Lou Levy departed and was replaced by someone named Manuel Frank. The brothers performed as schoolboys and Minnie and Hannah were the teachers as a part of the Six Mascots -- which was basically the Four Nightingales plus two. Eventually, it came to a point where they were too grown up to play little boys and so by 1910/'11, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Gummo formed their comedy act as we know it to be. 

By the mid-late 1910s, the Marxes were conquering vaudeville, and by the 1920s, their next move was Broadway -- and it turned out to be a success starting with I'll Say She Is. Then a new career in film began in 1929 with The Cocoanuts, and so on. After making their last picture together, Love Happy (1949), each of the Marx brothers went separate ways with their careers, but none of them achieved the same level as Groucho did with the new medium -- you guessed it -- television. You Bet Your Life started off as a radio show in 1947 before television came out, but with the rise of the TV in the 1950s, it was transformed into a popular TV game show like What's My Line? Unpopular opinion, but You Bet Your Life is a lot more fun to watch. It's one of my favorite TV shows and I'm personally not too keen on tv shows, as I prefer movies. 

  

Groucho with his first wife Ruth Johnson, son Arthur, and newborn 
daughter Miriam, 1927.

On February 4, 1920, Groucho wed chorus girl Ruth Johnson in Chicago. Ruth was originally Zeppo's girl and dancing partner, but they had some quarrels and he wanted her fired, which Groucho detested, emphatically stating, "The girl stays. I'm going to marry her!" The marriage produced two adorable children. Their first child, Arthur Julius Marx, was born on July 21, 1921, and their second, Miriam Marx, on May 19, 1927. After 22 years of marriage, their divorce was finalized on July 15, 1942. What went wrong? Unlike Chico -- Groucho was devoted to his wife, but he was dismissive towards her and often insulted her in front of others. Throughout their troubled marriage, Ruth used the bottle as a remedy for pain and became increasingly independent of it -- which ultimately ended the already declining marriage.  

 

Groucho went on to marry again two more times -- the second being to Kay Gorcey, which produced another daughter, Melinda, born in 1946, and the third being to Eden Hartford. The reason neither of them worked out was the same reason why his marriage to Ruth didn't work out. Groucho caused Kay to drink too, but thankfully that wasn't the case with Eden. Surprisingly, the two remained close after their divorce. I guess they just weren't suited to live with each other. In conclusion, Groucho failed as a husband. And he was certainly no help with Miriam's addiction either. They had a complicated relationship, a lot of which is revealed in Love, Groucho: Letters From Groucho Marx To His Daughter Miriam, but they reconciled shortly before his death and Miriam affectionately spoke of him -- the relationship wasn't only turmoil. His relationship with Melinda was complicated too, but never antagonistic. Now, Arthur, that's a different story. He at least was a male and didn't have to deal with what Miriam and Melinda did, but it's not like their relationship was any less troubled.  

 

The real question was what made Groucho that way? Here are all my perceptions:

1) Minnie -- undoubtedly the root of the problem. Groucho was the Marx brother who received the least bit of attention from his mother. The love he desired from her was hardly fulfilled, to say the least. When you're your mother's least favorite child and you know it -- it obviously creates a strain. It has been long said that Minnie's nickname for him was "der Eifersuchtige" -- meaning the jealous one. 

2) I can't lie, his personality was just built that way. It makes sense why he had that nickname although to be completely reasonable -- I can see eye to eye with him. Not everyone is simple and black and white -- there's complexity in human nature too. Part of loving Groucho is understanding him, and that's not merely the same as agreeing with him on everything.

3) He wasn't a man who understood women period. 

However, let us not forget that he still had good qualities. He was honest, humorous, generous, and loving. I love how he states in his autobiography, "Harpo was the solid man of the family. He inherited all my mother's good qualities -- kindness, understanding, and friendliness. I inherited what was left."  

 

 

 

Erin Fleming. *barf emoji* Yuck. She was absolutely heartless and so awful to him -- it's infuriating and at the same time tragic. Some suggest she might have been an act of karma in his life after the way he treated his ex-wives. Fair, but wrong. I don't know anything about Erin's early life, whether she came from an impoverished background or not, but probably. I know she was a mentally unstable woman, so I do have the least bit of sympathy for her, but at the same time, she was still a terrible person and I've never liked her. (I don't like to slander the dead, but gals gotta be truthful.) 

 

She was born on August 14, 1941. Erin was first introduced to Groucho in 1971 by his friend and television producer Jerry Davis. I'm not sure what the attraction was like at first, but she ended up working as his secretary and eventually manager. Around sometime later that year, they began dating and lived together under common-law-marriage. My guess is the main reason he didn't want to officially marry again was because he went through three divorces and didn't want to have to go through another. 

 

A few of Groucho's friends testified that Erin impacted his life for the better and they had many good moments together -- maybe so -- but most of his friends testified otherwise... Believe what you wanna, okay? But she was vile to him. That's the truth. If you dive deep enough into the whole case, you'll find out that she was very controlling of him and even forced him to take drugs (which slowed down his health) so she could gain more power over him. Even his daughter Melinda noticed a difference in him. He was old and tired and she took advantage of that. What's really sad is that he was too old and weak to fight back. I think he was afraid of dying alone so he gave into her cold treatment. Her "riving his popularity" with performances at Carnegie Hall is no excuse -- she did it for her own gain. Hurt people hurt people.    

 

Months after Groucho's death, Arthur filed a lawsuit against Erin claiming that she was abusive towards his father and had no right over his estate -- which went on for a few years. In the end, he won the lawsuit. For the remainder of her life, Erin was homeless and running in and out of various psychiatric hospitals until she committed suicide in 2003, at the age of 61.

 

This photo, which is believed to be the last remaining photo of Groucho, Zeppo, and Gummo altogether near the end of their lives, just makes my heart cry. The fact that Groucho was never informed of Gummo's death four months before his because his loved ones were afraid it would destroy him even more, makes it all the more heartbreaking.

After being in retirement and weak health for quite some time, Groucho Marx passed away on August 19, 1977, at the age of 86 from pneumonia after two months of being hospitalized. His last words were reportedly, "Die, my dear? Why that's the last thing I'll do" in response to the nurse attending his deathbed. How can you beat that?  

"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I just have one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."