Who was Chico Marx? Everything You Need to Know

Chico Marx was born as Leonard Marx in New York City to Sam and Minni Schoenberg Marx. He had a Franco-German Jewish ancestry. His father worked as a tailor.

After the death of the couple’s first son, he became the eldest of the Marx Brothers - others being Harpo, Groucho and Zeppo. Since an early age, he took to gambling and was loosely monitored by his parents which only led to intensifying his bad habit.

He spent much of the earnings of his dad and even traded the latter’s scissors to fund his gambling habit. He gambled at the card games, horse and dog racing and various sporting events in the form of betting.

In addition of his gambling habit, he was a compulsive womanizer as well. It was due to this habit that he acquired the name Chico, which actually stood for ‘chicken chasing’

Despite the negative habits, he imbibed the music culture of his maternal family and learned to play several musical instruments, including the piano.

When young, he got jobs for playing the piano at several clubs. On several occasions, he played piano in more than one place at a single time. However, he substituted his brother who looked like him at the job place.

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Career

He started of his career along with his brother as a musical group on the vaudeville circuit. However, the failure of the musical group to catch the attention of the audience led the brothers to jeer at the people. It was while heckling that they discovered their panache for comedy.

Soon the Marx Brothers switched to comedy with him adopting the persona of an Italian dimwit. He gave substance to his character by accentuating it with a curly-haired wig, Tyrolean cap and completing it with an Italian accent.

Marx Brothers started off by presenting their sketch comedy on the vaudeville circuit which was followed by shows in Broadway and radio performances. It was success at the shows that led them to take a plunge into the big cinema.

The Marx Brothers released their first movie, ‘The Cocoanuts’ which was followed by a couple of others, such as ‘Animal Cracker’s, ‘Monkey Business’ and ‘Horse Feathers’. The films fared well under the Paramount Pictures.

It was the release and failure of their next film, Duck Soup which led them to sign a contract with MGM. This was possible due to his contact with Hollywood heavyweight Irving Thalberg.

Following this, they came up with the classic ‘Night at the Opera’ which was followed by ‘A Day at the Races’. They even came up with the film, ‘Go West’, in which he attempts to pacify an Indian chief whom Groucho has befooled.

Interestingly in most of the films that the brothers released, his character seemed to be genuinely Italian. Some of these films include, ‘The Big Store’, ‘Monkey Business’ and ‘The Cocoanuts’.

The Marx Brothers came up with their last film, ‘Love Happy’ in which he played the piano and violin duet with Mr Lyons.

After the death of his mother, he took up as the manager of the group. Though he brought in good deals for the group but his flamboyant ways and gambling habits led his brothers to take over the finances. He was reportedly put on a fixed allowance.

It was due to his gambling habit that even after his brothers retired from show business, he continued to work in order to pay off his debts that he incurred while gambling.

After the retirement of his brothers he led the band, Chico Marx Orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s of which Mel Torme was the lead singer. He even performed at the vaudeville houses where he began his career.

It was in 1946 that the Marx Brothers reunited for the film, ‘A Night in Casablanca’ in order to support his bottom line after he had filed for bankruptcy. The money earned from the film secured him a monthly allowance on which he stayed for the rest of his life.

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Personal Life & Legacy

He married twice in his lifetime. The first was to Betty Karp in 1917. The couple was blessed with a daughter Maxine the following year. The alliance, however, was plagued by his adultery. The two finally broke up.

In 1958, he went into the wedlock for a second time to Mary De Vithas.

Three years later, he breathed his last due to arteriosclerosis at his Hollywood home. He has been entombed in a crypt in the Freedom Mausoleum in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California

Trivia

He was the oldest of the Marx Brothers and was famous for his antic personality, gambling habit and womanizing nature.

Chico Marx Biography