Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx will always be remembered as the fast talking, ad-libbing, master of wit.
Some comedians are story tellers, others favour slapstick gags, and some are just plain sick. But Groucho Marx will always be remembered as the fast talking, ad-libbing, master of wit.
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx, the man with the greasiest eyebrows in the business, was born in 1890 in New York City. A time when life itself was in black and white and most jokes were about penny-farthing accidents.
Groucho's career started on stage singing with his two brothers in a group called The Nightingales. They were pretty rubbish, so during one particularly dismal performance they cracked some jokes to lighten the atmosphere. The audience preferred them as comedians so they hurriedly converted all their songs into skits. Groucho performed with his brothers for the next seven years.
Groucho's most famous routine was as a wise-cracking, chicken-walking hustler with extra thick eyebrows and moustache. The greasy facial hair was added completely spontaneously before going on stage one night. He didn't have time to put on his usual fake moustache, so he liberally applied greasepaint to his top lip. Of course he needed matching eyebrows, so as not to look too ridiculous, and the glasses and cigar finished off the look. And so the face that launched a million novelty masks was born.
Radio and TV work followed, most famously on the You Bet Your Life game show where he secured his reputation as an ad-libbing pro. Taking pity on one contestant who had not won anything he asked: "What colour is the White House?"
Groucho liked his politics too, and was close friends with fellow liberalist John Lennon. Satirists of the time were quick to exploit the similarity of the pairs' names to Karl Marx and John Lenin. Some lefty performers since have been referred to as 'Groucho Marxists.'
Groucho died at the ripe old age of 86 from pneumonia but his death got very little coverage due to Elvis Presley passing away three days earlier. He wanted his epitaph to read, "Sorry, I can't stand up" but only his stage name made the final cut.
