Louis Marx was an American toy maker and businessman whose company, Louis Marx and Company, was the largest toy company in the world in the 1950s.
17 Facts About Louis Marx
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Louis Marx was described by some as an experienced businessman with the mind of child.
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Louis Marx then entered the United States Army as a private and attained the rank of sergeant before returning to civilian life in 1918.
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When Strauss fell on hard financial times, Louis Marx was able to buy the dies for two Strauss toys and turn them into best-sellers.
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Louis Marx was declared "Toy King of the World" in October 1937 in a London newspaper.
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Louis Marx used the contacts he made in this manner to forge partnerships and open factories in Europe and Japan.
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Louis Marx was featured on the cover of Time magazine on December 12,1955, with his portrait eclipsing an image of Santa Claus, while examples of his toys swirl in the background.
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Louis Marx married his first wife Irene Saltzman, nicknamed Rene, on December 31,1927 in Manhattan, New York.
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Louis Marx became very depressed at this time and suggested he might quit the business to take care of his four children.
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On March 30,1947, Marx married Idella Ruth Blackadder, Louis' chief jewelry designer for his Charmore line and nearly 28 years his junior.
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Louis Marx went on to become an activist author, and the second wife of Daniel Ellsberg, assisting him in the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971.
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Louis Marx's eldest child, Barbara Marx Hubbard, was a New Age futurist Barbara's daughter, Alexandra Morton, is a notable marine biologist.
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Marx's son, Louis Marx Junior, is a venture capitalist and philanthropist who has contributed to the arts, education and medicine.
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Louis Marx was 76 years old and had thought about retiring for a number of years.
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Louis Marx ruled his toy empire from the 200 5th Avenue, New York office, with open 24-hour telephone communication.
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Louis Marx died at the hospital in White Plains, New York, at age 85.
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Louis Marx is interred in a private mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.