ZEPPO MARX • Character Chronicles

Herbert "Zeppo" Marx is a name that become a legendary laughing stock to comedy enthusiasts. Despite being a member of the craziest comedy group of all time, unlike his older brothers (Groucho, Harpo & Chico), Zeppo was the very opposite of zany.
/ dupondtdalton
INDEX:
03:10 The Origin of The Four Marx Brothers / The Vaudeville Years
05:33 I'll Say She Is (1924) (2016)
07:37 The Cocoanuts (1929)
09:24 Animal Crackers (1930)
11:28 Monkey Business (1931)
14:24 Horse Feathers (1932)
17:03 Duck Soup (1933)
18:57 The MGM Years / Zeppo Quits
20:53 Room Service (1938)

[@DoctorInk20]

I now have a desire to watch a heap of old comedy. Especially this recreated Marx Bros. show. Thanks! 😁

[@LNER4771]

Zeppo was also the one who first introduced Mr. Jack Benny to his future wife and comedy partner Mary Livingstone.

[@WorldNews92]

How did Groucho Marx light his cigar? With a Zeppo lighter.

[@DoctorInk20]

That pun was so painful it left Marx. XD

[@texasmimi5566]

@@DoctorInk20 LOL!

[@DoctorInk20]

@@texasmimi5566 Thenk yew, thenk yew! I'll be here all week. XD

[@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635]

X Marx the spot

[@TerryDowne]

By many accounts Zeppo was every bit as funny off-screen as his brothers, as quick with a quip as Groucho. He was always the odd man out in the family, though, and he was very conscious of the fact. That, of course, is why he eventually left the act to strike out on his own. Zeppo was highly intelligent and a good businessman who had several successful careers. He teamed with Gummo in a theatrical agency. He was mechanically minded and a tinkerer and inventor. During WWII he patented a bomb coupling which was used on the B29 and later invented a pacemaker device. He made a lot of money and was the most successful gambler and card player in the family, spending much of his later life as a Vegas high roller. He had nearly become a professional criminal in his youth and in Vegas and LA he was often around gangsters. Personally he was a cold, hard man, which was a natural reaction to being belittled within the family. Neither of his marriages worked out but he went on to have a string of girlfriends, all much younger than himself. I think he was in many ways the most interesting of the five brothers. Somebody needs to write a biography of him or better yet make a movie about him.

[@mariarusso3790]

Hello Terry how are you. Hope you had a pleasant weekend 😊

[@HeadphonesUK]

I was wondering if you were going to put in the Pinky and the Brain Zeppo reference, and sure enough!

[@permvw]

What an informative piece, it’s worth of a dvd release as an extra 👍👍

[@danelgriffin6004]

I would argue that Groucho, Harpo, and Chico actually needed a straight man more than any other comic team in the movies, just not the type usually seen in a comic double act -- which is, a foil to their comedy. The world around them served that purpose. But for the comedy of their Paramounts to work, a very specific type of straight man with a very different purpose was required -- a role fulfilled to perfection by Zeppo. In the Paramount films, Groucho, Harpo, and Chico are nothing less than chaos magicians. Traditional narratives meant nothing to them -- they were disruptions simply turned loose to devour the plots, the sets, the traditional elements we expect in a movie. Everything was left in shambles once they passed through, and no one was safe -- no one except Zeppo, who was seemingly normal but accepted and participated in their absurd antics. His parts were almost always small in comparison to his brothers -- sometimes as mostly an observer, sometimes as a love interest -- but it's important to note what he accomplished with just a handful of scenes: He actually provided direction for the coming storm that were his older brothers. His roles, whether they be romantic or secretarial, served as his entry points into the narratives, but pay special attention to what he does once he's arrived: In "The Cocoanuts," Zeppo has an idea to save the hotel that Groucho more or less follows when it is suggested to him. Zeppo all but disappears after he offers this plan, but it sets all the chaos that follows into motion. In "Animal Crackers," Groucho shows up to the house party and is prepared to promptly leave, revealing that his appearance was a quick troll; Zeppo leads the chorus in a song and dance that strokes Groucho's ego and convinces him to stick around, causing all of the subsequent hilarity to ensure. He also gets the best one-up of Groucho of all time later in the "Take a letter" bit, revealing how he could leave Groucho stunned with plain-English rebuttals when Harpo and Chico just added fuel to Groucho's fiery zingers. Has anyone else ever rendered Groucho Marx speechless, and seemed so oblivious to the fact that they'd done it? "Monkey Business" has an arch completely directed by Zeppo's romance. It is the only plot thread that any of the brothers ultimately follow as they leave the boat and find themselves caught up in the mob war. His actions dictate the climactic final throwdown. He also comes up with the plan that leads to the movie's biggest laugh -- the Chevalier scene. In "Horse Feathers," Groucho has joined the college as an intervention for his son, played by Zeppo. After literally singing a song in which he makes clear that he will refuse to listen to anyone's ideas but his own, Groucho turns his insults toward Zeppo -- who brilliantly pushes through Groucho's verbal assaults to convince him to actually go along with a plan that sets up the entire movie. In "Duck Soup," Zeppo has a key scene as a Rovian sort of advisor who actually is able to convince Groucho of Trentino's true motives. It's his idea to get into an insult/slap exchange that leads to war. It's the only time in the movie where Groucho actually seems to have any motivation beyond proceeding from one scene to the next. Zeppo gives him an idea. It's easy to dismiss Zeppo due to his small roles, or when we try to find a personality in his character to compete with what his three older brothers accomplished on screen. But to simply consider his "schtick" is to miss the essential role he played. It has always seemed to me that Zeppo's function in the team was to point the way. A straight man like this doesn't need a big part, nor does he need to act like a comic foil who can keep up with the others. He rather steps in with his cheesy smile and sincere eagerness, provides some direction for his lunatic brothers with a fabulously terrible idea, and then steps back until it is time to join them for the madcap ending in which what's left of the plot comes tumbling down around the four of them -- who emerge unscathed. All the while, it never seems to occur to him that their behavior is anything but normal -- which is what makes his plans so hilariously disastrous. The first order of business for the MGM and subsequent movies was to emasculate these three chaos magicians and render them maintenance men for the plotlines; Zeppo's role was therefore not required, because the brothers were kept on a leash. Who knows what his role would have been if he'd stuck around. But in the Paramounts, there's nothing more dangerous than when Zeppo Marx smiles and enthusiastically proclaims, "I have a plan!" It means that Groucho, Harpo, and Chico have found a direction to rampage, and they were forces of nature basically incapable of finding that on their own. In this way -- not in his romantic subplots or straight-face rebuttals, as much as we loved him in these roles -- he was absolutely essential.

[@user-vr6xm8lm1o]

My Marx brothers book said, quoting from Zeppo himself - when he was a kid he carried a gun and was stealing cars. Later he was working as a car mechanic at the Ford Motor Company - soon Minnie “kidnapped” hm and pushed him in show biz. Gummo, in the 1910s, was STILL with them; they were very popular in vaudeville, and for a few months in Michigan ALL FIVE Marx Brothers were on stage; Harpo was already playing the harp …

[@LuxuryPossum]

His role in Monkey Business is definitely the part he should have been playing the whole time, the romantic straight man character. I do think if he had kept on with the group through the MGM films, he would have been playing the part in the young lovers subplots of the films.

[@PRR5406]

A well researched presentation with thoughtful commentary. Zeppo was at one time, a bit of a gymnast/body builder, and quite a mechanic. Apparently he had a natural talent for automobile engines as well as a number of other inventions, only two of which are mentioned here. Accounts from other Marx descendants claim that Zeppo was an extremely funny man who actually contributed many of the gags used by Groucho and Harpo. The jokes didn't fit his role, so the other two gratefully accepted them. Susan (Mrs. Harpo) Marx, and later in his senility, Groucho, contend that Zeppo was a vicious gambler. Whereas Chico got a thrill from losing as much as winning, Zeppo went for the throat of a gambling pigeon. He could be cold, ruthless, and bitter towards people for whom he had little respect. Towards the very close of his days, his second ex-wife had run off with Frank SInatra, he had a cool relationship with his two sons, and pretty much died alone. His cremains were scatter in the Pacific.

[@RandBreviews]

I read that Zeppo was actually a parody of romantic leading Men from dramatic theater shows in the early 20th century. However I think that hasn't aged very well if that's true. Zeppo was supposedly the funniest Marx brother off screen but the others were better at coming up with stuff on the spot and sometimes Zeppo had a hard time keeping up. I do feel like Zeppo was underused a little bit. However I think he was used the best in Animal Crackers and Monkey Business. In Animal crackers he's the one that introduces Groucho's character and Monkey Business I feel like he's given more to do.

[@ttintagel]

Zeppo’s parts were deliberately kept small in the stage shows because he was the understudy for the other three brothers. He did perfect imitations of all three. Groucho once checked himself out of the hospital early after his appendectomy because Zeppo was getting better reviews in Groucho’s part than Groucho himself had been getting. And one of Zeppo’s most important inventions was the Marman clamp, which held the atomic bomb to the Enola Gay and helped win the war.

[@prchristman]

Murray on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" said disparagingly of inane newscaster Ted Knight, "What would you expect of someone whose favorite Marx Brother is Zeppo?" But Zeppo at least always attracted my interest when he was on screen. Groucho was my favorite, and Zeppo's scenes usually involved Groucho more than Harpo or Chico. How little or much Zeppo was used in each of the five films he was in was a story in itself. And he was a Marx brother. A member of that wonderful family.

[@JohnnyJoe]

Privately, however, Zeppo is said to have been the funniest of the brothers and was the only one who could make Groucho break down laughing. He was also able to imitate his three older brothers' characters to perfection after being a stand-in during the theater years. He even plays Groucho's Captain Spaulding in a scene in the movie "Animal Crackers" when there is a power cut. However, it must be added that the films over the years with Zeppo are all very cut down, probably due to the strong censorship that existed at the time and have in time been lost forever. In the first two, he should have had more to do in the stage versions. And the "Horse Feathers" version that remains is very cut down, including a scene towards the end where the school burns down (probably removed due to censorship).

[@latterature]

Loved this! Very informative.

[@69kellygreen]

Zeppo was a hottie!

[@jesco_biafra]

Yes!!!

[@TheMelloyMan]

I saw a musical performance of the cocoanuts a couple years back at the guthrie theater, Zeppo's character was fused with the love bird who gets framed. It was such a fantastic show I wish I could see it again

[@AWESOMEjeff654r]

An Underrated Comedian

[@ottagol1985]

Nice insight on the forgotten Marx brother. I do feel sorry for Zeppo at times. I remember one scene in "Animal Crackers" where there was a black out. Zeppo filled in for Groucho in that bit as well.

[@JeffreyKitsch]

According to scholars of the Marx Brothers, Zeppo playing Groucho in the power-cut scene is a case of fake news. An episode of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast points to evidence that it was a friend of Groucho who appears in the dark, writer Arthur Sheekman.

[@ottagol1985]

@@JeffreyKitsch Sheekman? I only remembered his only acting gig was a sportswriter in one of their films. Didn't know it was him. My bad.

[@kcuhc84]

This may be an unpopular opinion but, I think something was lost from the "chemistry" when the Marx brothers went to bigger pictures and Zeppo left the team.

[@spudskie3907]

I agree. The movies were never the same after he left.

[@DaveDunning-st1hh]

That was when Irving Thalberg tweaked the films with his "Thalberg formula". Allowing Harpo to be abused to give him sympathy, and make us really hate the bad guy. Opera was the first film that Thalberg tweaked, Races being the second. Thalberg died during filming of Races, and was praised by Groucho ever after. Most people feel that the Thalberg MGM movies were far better than the Paramount films, but I respect your opinions.

[@user-vr6xm8lm1o]

NO, starting at 16:23 I saw it, in the early 1960s, I saw “ Horse Feathers “ on TV when it was happening - the film kept breaking, again and again, the card PLEASE STAND BY was shown on the screen over and over; and the second part of them visiting Connie is completely missing. I have a small paperback book titled “ The Marx Brothers at the Movies” that describes that entire scene, including Groucho jumping out the window and Harpo tries to catch him in his dog catcher’s net. 😮

[@silyknow]

Very good video!

[@markandresen1]

'Duck Soup' will always be my favourite Marx film.

[@JaredGriffiths2000]

It's my favourite too!

[@DaveDunning-st1hh]

Duck soup has it's moments, but I sorely miss Chico's piano, and Harpo's musical features. The torture of Lemonade seller Edgar Kennedy compensates a bit, but still, to me, the film is lacking. Give me Casablanca, when Sig Ruman is trying to pack his bags, such a well polished scene has me convulsing every time !

[@billramsay7351]

let's get this straight, marx brothers fans don't ridicule zeppo. He was the straight man, that's all.

[@eggmannega6895]

Who next? Bud Jamison? Vernon Dent? Emil Sitka? Joe de Rita?

[@JaredGriffiths2000]

I would love to see him do one of those because I'm a big fan of The Three Stooges.

[@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635]

Lol Now you’re listing Three Stooges cast members

[@eggmannega6895]

@@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635 Well he's done someone with Laurel and Hardy, then the Marx Brothers. I couldn't really think of anyone from Abbott and Costello.

[@johnnyelizabethton]

See also Ellis, Allen, "Yes, Sir: The Legacy of Zeppo Marx." In The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 37, no. 1, 2003, pp. 15-27.

[@Mr.Allard]

At 16:41 you said Zeppo was getting and ultrasound scan, I did not know that. Whenever I looked at that picture, I always thought Groucho was Ironing Zeppo's clothes while he was still wearing them LOL!🤣

[@AQuietNight]

Duck Soup did turn a profit for Paramount.

[@Tekxyy]

I love how each of the Marx Bros. has an obviously fake trait that makes them look sound or act foolishly,Groucho has the mustache,Chico has the accent,Harpo has the wig and absence of Voice,and Zeppo had the complete absence from film.

[@ttintagel]

All the brothers, with the possible exception of Gummo, used their nicknames in real life as well as on the stage/screen.

[@kevinwachs5905]

Actually, they only used their nicknames in private life until the opening The Cocoanuts, their second Broadway show, over a decade after they got them. Throughout their vaudeville careers and first legitimate show, they were billed under their real names. Oddly, Gummo was the first to use his nickname professionally, when he incorporated one of his post-show business companies as "Gummo Marx, Inc" In the early 1920s.

[@jolinkarlsson8569]

In good morning. Vietnam one scene a guy said ”he’s funny like a Marx brother” and the other guy said ”who Zeppo?” Anyway i was called Zeppo when i was younger but i had no idea who that was now i do and i have seen a few movies and they got him in it i like Zeppo he’s like Shemp in the three stooges he derserve more i don’t care what others think

[@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635]

I think the similarities between Shemp and Zeppo is in fact they’re forgotten

[@jolinkarlsson8569]

@@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635 yeah poor guys love them both and they do derserve much better they are the originals but not a lot of people know it

[@melissacooper8724]

I remember in an episode of Garfield and Friends Jon was filling out a questionnaire to find his perfect match. It was revealed that his favorite Marx Brother was Zeppo! I guess the joke was that only an awkward dork like Jon would ever favor Zeppo!

[@laural.enright4780]

Zeppo has gotten a bad rap. Monkey Business show exactly what could have been done with that character. He could have been the romantic lead (instead of the weak romantic leads that have shown up on in their films). He had the timing, he had the rapport with the other Marxes. That could have been his schtick the way the others had theirs. I think he was a talented guy who was never given the material.

[@spudskie3907]

Completely agree!

[@lynnetedder-ward3164]

I'm an avid fan of the marx bros. Only I think that zeppo was stiff in front of the camera. I think that the other three didn't want him to join them but did what their mother said to do. My favourite is Harpo. 😂😂😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️❤️💖💖💖🎙️🎙️🎭🎭🎭🎭🎭

[@jameshudson169]

i like zeppo. had a lighter named after him.

[@mariovaccarella6854]

Zeppo was The Funniest of The Marx Brothers, as is said, In Real Life - While it can be that He/Zeppo was only doing what was Written For Him in Animal Crackers, I Believe That in The Letter Taking Scene, His Ad Lib Dialogue Surprised Groucho, If You Look Closely At Groucho's Reactions As If He Didn't Expect Zeppo To Say It - e.g. Groucho calling Zeppo A Sneak when Zeppo comes back with Hoping This Finds Him Where to Groucho's Dictation Hoping This Finds You. You can see from That Scene Zeppo Stealing The Scene And One Upping Groucho at Every Chance He Gets. It's Likely, after the Ad Libbing Done by Zeppo, Groucho said No More Of That! And Zeppo goes back to The Straight Man & Romantic Lead with Little Or No Dialogue. Let Me Know If You Are In Agreement Or Not With My View Of The Ad Libbing.

[@Kilroyiii4644]

Would someone please tell me from what show is the clip in 2:44? Much obliged!

[@AceripXF]

to the person that made this vid: why did u pronounce chicos name CHEEKO then later finally pronounced it right (Chick-oh)

[@jeff901]

Zeppo invented a lighter.

[@AceripXF]

its pronounced CHICK-OH!!!

[@texasmimi5566]

Originally. But watching all of these clips/videos, I have heard it pronounced both ways.

[@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635]

I actually felt bad for Zeppo because he had paid less and he only appeared in 5 movies

[@Extratexture4]

He was a very successful businessman on his own and never missed show business.

[@jessicathethreestoogesfan2635]

Extratexture4 And what else why? He’s divorced twice.

[@kevinwachs5905]

Zeppo was a success in many business ventures after leaving the act, where he was never comfortable . He only joined the act (at age 16) because his mother told him to, in order to preserve the name "The Four Marx Bros" when Gummo joined the army. Gummo sang and danced well, and looked fairly good on stage, but he was not a good comedian. By the time Zeppo replaced Gummo as Groucho's son in the act, the act was well established (although Groucho's character would continue to evolve), and Zeppo was given little opportunity to improve his role. More than a decade younger than his brothers, and having missed the years of struggle in the depths of very small-time vaudeville, Zeppo was never treated as a full partner by his brothers. He had to wait for his parents' deaths and the end of their Paramount contract to quit, but he had longed to leave the act for years before that.

[@BuddyFellows-xd9yn]

what episode 2:30 ?

[@Extratexture4]

Zeppo was smart and funny, but the act had already gelled when he was put in Gummo’s role as the pleasant straight man. He never got a chance to grow with the team.

[@JaredGriffiths2000]

I love the Marx brothers but Zeppo wasn't exactly the funniest brother. Great video though!

[@geronimus-prime]

Mis-JEEV-i-ous again... Hmmm... What is it about that pronunciation? Before 1980, you heard nothing but MIS-chiv-ous, and after, nothing but mis-JEEV-i-ous.