1. Margaret Dumont's mother was a music teacher and encouraged Daisy's singing career from an early age.
16 Facts About Margaret Dumont
1. 2.
Margaret Dumont appeared with the Marxes in the screen versions of both The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers.
3.
Margaret Dumont endured dialogue about her characters' stout build, as with these lines from Duck Soup:.
4.
Margaret Dumont was so important to the success of the Marx Brothers films, she was one of the few people Groucho mentioned in his short acceptance speech for an honorary Oscar in 1974.
5.
In most of her interviews and press profiles, Margaret Dumont preserved the myth of her on-screen character: the wealthy, regal woman who never quite understood the jokes.
6.
For decades, film critics and historians have theorized that because Margaret Dumont never broke character or smiled at Groucho's jokes, she did not "get" the Marxes' humor.
7.
Margaret Dumont's acting style, especially in her early films, reflected the classic theatrical tradition of projecting to the back row.
8.
Margaret Dumont had a classical operatic singing voice that screenwriters eagerly used to their advantage.
9.
Margaret Dumont appeared in 57 films, including some minor silent work beginning with A Tale of Two Cities.
10.
Margaret Dumont made some television appearances, including a guest-starring role with Estelle Winwood on The Donna Reed Show in the episode "Miss Lovelace Comes to Tea".
11.
Margaret Dumont appeared on television with Martin and Lewis in The Colgate Comedy Hour.
12.
On February 26,1965, eight days before her death, Margaret Dumont made her final acting appearance on the television program The Hollywood Palace, where she was reunited with Groucho, the week's guest host.
13.
Margaret Dumont died from a heart attack on March 6,1965.
14.
Margaret Dumont was cremated and her ashes were interred at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.
15.
Margaret Dumont was 82, although many obituaries erroneously gave her age as 75.
16.
In 2023, Margaret Dumont's cremains were removed from non-public storage in the basement of the Chapel of the Pines after 58 years to a publicly accessible niche with a new bronze plaque in the chapel columbarium.