33 Facts About Zeppo Marx

Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx was an American comedic actor.

Zeppo Marx was the youngest, and last survivor, of the five Marx Brothers.

Zeppo Marx abandoned performing for careers as an engineer and theatrical agent.

Zeppo Marx's parents were Sam Marx and Minnie Schonberg Marx, both Jewish.

Zeppo Marx's mother was from East Frisia in Germany and his father was a tailor from Alsace, France.

Zeppo Marx had been employed as a mechanic for the Ford Motor Company.

Zeppo Marx had no desire for a show business career, but Minnie Marx insisted that he replace Gummo because she wanted to maintain the act as a foursome.

Zeppo Marx appeared without his brothers in a minor role the Adolphe Menjou comedy A Kiss in the Dark, billed as Herbert Marx.

Zeppo Marx's performance was praised by the New York Sun.

Barbara Sinatra said that he was considered too young to perform with his brothers, but when Gummo joined the army, Zeppo Marx was asked to join the act as a last-minute replacement at a show in Texas.

Zeppo Marx's friend was shot several hours later by a gang that disapproved of Jews dating Irish girls.

Zeppo Marx stepped in, wearing Groucho's costume and makeup, and the scene was rigged so there was a power failure.

The popular assumption that Zeppo Marx's character was superfluous was fueled in part by Groucho.

Zeppo Marx produced a motorcycle called the Marman Twin as well as the Marman clamps used to hold the atomic bombs inside the B-29 bombers Enola Gay and Bockscar.

The 2024 book by Robert S Bader Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother said that Zeppo was deeply associated with gangsters, and was called to testify before a grand jury in 1958 about missing funds in a gambling syndicate.

Zeppo Marx introduced Mary Livingstone to Jack Benny during a Passover seder; they married in 1926.

Zeppo Marx wanted to adopt and give his surname to her son Bobby Oliver, but Bobby's father would not allow it.

Zeppo Marx was reportedly pleased when the boy was sent to military school.

Zeppo Marx owned a house on Halper Lake Drive in Rancho Mirage, California, near the residence of Frank Sinatra.

At the last minute, Barbara was told that she could not show the film, so Zeppo Marx spoke to Sinatra, who gave them an early release of the recently completed Come Blow Your Horn.

Barbara and Sinatra denied the affair until after she and Zeppo Marx divorced in 1973.

In 1973,37-year old Jean Bodul, the future wife of mobster Jimmy Fratianno, accused Zeppo Marx of assaulting her; she sued and a jury awarded her $20,690 in 1978.

An ailing Zeppo Marx turned to his former wife Barbara for support and she accompanied him to medical appointments and treatment sessions.

Zeppo Marx died of lung cancer at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage on November 30,1979, at the age of 78.

Zeppo Marx was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean.

Several critics have challenged the notion that Zeppo Marx did not develop a comic persona in his films.

Zeppo Marx was neither totally a straight man nor totally a comedian, but combined elements of both, as did Margaret Dumont.

Groucho clears his throat in the midst of his dictation, and Zeppo Marx asks him if he wants that in the letter.

Zeppo Marx is at his funniest when he opens his mouth and sings.

Almost every crooner of 1932 looks stilted and awkward now, but with Zeppo Marx, who was never very convincing in the first place, the effect crosses the threshold into lovable comedy.

Indeed, Zeppo Marx is a link between the audience and Groucho, Harpo and Chico.

Further, Zeppo Marx is crucial to the absurdity of the Paramount films.

Zeppo Marx just took it from Groucho, in more ways than one.