Groucho Marx
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(CBSDFW.COM) - Julius "Groucho" Marx was a very rare entertainer in the sense that he was able to transition from one medium of entertainment to another more successfully than most. And the creation of new entertainment mediums developed quickly during the 20th Century.
Born in New York, Marx and his brothers Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, and Gummo, started in vaudeville. Groucho's trademarks were glasses, a cigar, a stooped over posture, and a thick greasepaint mustache. He was the undisputed King of one-liners. The brothers' first movie was a silent one made in 1921 that was not released and is believed to have been destroyed. They were signed by Adolph Zukor's Paramount Pictures and there they made some of their best movies: The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, and Horse Feathers. Their best movie at Paramount was the 1933 feature, "Duck Soup" with Groucho as the leader of a fictitious county, Freedonia, who goes to war with its neighbor, Sylvania. Margaret Dumont, who co-starred in several movies with the boys, played the high-society lady who could never really figure out the brothers, on camera or off! In 1935, the brothers signed with MGM where they made A Night At The Opera, A Day At The Races and At The Circus.
By the early 1940's their film career had pretty much dried up. In Groucho's case, he had experience as a radio comedian and show host going back to the 1930's. As a result, he was asked to host a show called You Bet Your Life. The show aired on both ABC and CBS Radio but later moved to NBC Radio and then NBC Television in 1950. Filmed before a live studio audience, the premise of the show was simple: a couple would come on stage, visit with Groucho as he got to know them a little (while telling jokes at their expense) before quizzing them. The long time announcer was George Fenneman (who Groucho referred to as "Mister Fiddiman"). At the beginning of the show, Groucho was say, "Say the secret woid (word) and the duck will come down and give you fifty dollars…it's a common word something you see every day." At the end of the round, if the contestants didn't win any money, Groucho would one last question like "What color is the White House?". Enough said.
The show ran until 1962. I was fortunate to have the rights locally when I was with KXTX Channel 39 in the 1980's. Airing at 10pm, we actually did pretty good with it, considering it ran up against late local news.
So to move from vaudeville to motion pictures to radio to television in the scope of 50 years is pretty darn good.
Enjoy this very funny clip from You Bet Your Life!