Julius Marx's character from "Fun In Hi Skule" was an ethnic German, so Julius played him with a German accent. His dsicomfort speaking on stage led to his uncle Al Shean's suggestion that he stopped speaking altogether and play the role in mime. Arthur, the next oldest, donned a curly red wig and became "Patsy Brannigan", a stereotypical Irish character. Leonard, the oldest, developed an Italian accent he used as Chico Marx to convince some roving bullies that he was Italian, not Jewish. The Marx Brothers would perform variations on this routine for the next several years.įor a time in vaudeville all the brothers performed using ethnic accents. They modified the then-popular Gus Edwards comedy skit "School Days" and renamed it "Fun In Hi Skule". Much to their surprise, the audience liked them better as comedians than as singers. By 1909, Minnie Marx successfully in Nacogdoches, Texas, Julius, Milton and Arthur began cracking jokes onstage for their own amusement.
Though he reputedly claimed that as a vaudevillian he was "hopelessly average" it was merely a wisecrack. Julius took to the stage as a boy singer in 1905. Throughout the rest of his life, Marx would overcome his lack of formal education by becoming a very well-read.Īfter a few unsuccessful stabs at entry-level office work and other jobs suitable for adolescents. By that time, Julius had become a voracious reader, particularly fond of Horatio Algar. Even though Julius's early career goal was to be a doctor, the family's need for income forced Julius out of school at the age of twelve. While pushing her career eldest son (Chico Marx) in piano lessons, she found that Julius had a pleasant soprano voice and the ability to remain on key. Minnie Marx did not have an entertainment industry career, but had intense ambition for her sons to go on stage like their uncle.
Marx and his brothers respected his opinions and asked him on several occasions to write some material for them. According to Groucho, when Shean visited he would throw the local waifs a few coins so that when he knocked at the door, he would be surrounded by adoring fans. Minnie's brother was Al Schoeberg, who shortened his name to Al Shean when he went into show business as half of Gallagher and Shean, a noted vaudeville act of the early 20th century. His father was Simon "Sam" Marx who changed his name from Marrix, and was called "Frenchie" throughout his life because he and his family came from Alsace-Lorraine. Groucho's mother was Miene "Minnie" Schoenberg, whose family came from Dornum in northern Germany when she was 16 years old. Just across the street were the oldest brownstone in the area, owned by people such as the well-connected Loew Brothers and William Oath.
The turn-of the-century building that Harpo called "the first real home they ever knew" (in his memoir Harpo Speaks) was populated with European immigrants, mostly artisans. The Marx children grew up on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side of the boroughs of Manhattan, in New York City. In a 1950 radio episode of You Bet Your Life, Groucho stated that he was born in a room above a butcher's shop on 78th Street in New York City. These exaggerated results in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous novelty disguises, known as "Groucho glasses", a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show called You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. He made 13 feature films along with his siblings called the Marx Brothers, of whom he was third-born. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (born Octodied August 19, 1977) was an American comedian and film and television star.
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