![]() ![]() The brothers (after 1933 minus straight man Zeppo Marx) went on to star in another dozen motion pictures. In 1925, the Marxes headlined with their own material in The Cocoanuts which later also became their first talking picture. Groucho, playing Napoleon Bonaparte, sported his painted on moustache for the first time on the big stage (the cigar came later). In 1924, Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo achieved their first major breakthrough on Broadway in the comedy musical I'll Say She Is. Their growing success on the vaudeville circuit led to a sojourn in England in the early 20s where they appeared in a musical revue entitled On the Balcony. Chico wore a pointy hat and adopted an Italian accent. Harpo donned a red wig and became a mute. Groucho now started walking with a loping stoop and became verbose. ![]() The Marxe's uncle, a well-established German-born comic and vaudevillian named Al Shean, began to refine the show business personae of the brothers and also contributed to writing their first successful skit. With further additions, this expanded into the Six Mascots by 1912. They became known as the Four Nightingales. In 1908, Minnie, whose parents had once operated a travelling theatrical troupe, organised Groucho, Harpo Marx, Gummo Marx and a kid named Lou Levy into a musical act on vaudeville. Chico Marx became a piano salesman at Shapiro and Bernstein. His first 'proper job' was on Coney Island, singing a song while sitting on a keg of beer. Groucho Marx was the first to enter show business as a boy soprano with the Gus Edwards show 'Boys and Girls'. The brothers were raised in the Jewish faith and grew up in a poor Manhattan neighbourhood of mostly Italian and German immigrants on East 93rd Street. Their mother came from Alsace-Lorraine and was a noted beauty named Minnie Schoenberg. He was a clothing cutter, who (according to Groucho) had lofty aspirations of becoming a tailor. Though the Marxes were born in New York, their father Simon (nicknamed 'Frenchie') originally hailed from Germany. There were also Zeppo (aka Herbert) - who featured in their early comedies as a straight man and later became a theatrical agent - and Gummo (aka Milton), who eschewed the entertainment industry for a career in business. ![]() The zaniest of all madcap comedy teams were the Marx Brothers, namely Groucho (aka Julius Henry), Chico (aka Leonard), and Harpo (aka Adolph). ![]()
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