Chico Marx
Chico Marx
!Lobby card for Monkey Business (1931) with Chico (left) and [Harpo (right)](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/MonkeyBusinesslobbycard1931.JPG/250px-MonkeyBusinesslobbycard1931.JPG)
Early years
Marx was born in Manhattan, New York City, on March 22, 1887. His mother Miene ("Minnie") Marx (née Schoenberg) was from Dornum in East Frisia. Around 1880, the family emigrated to New York City. His father, Samuel ("Sam" or "Frenchy"; born Simon) Marx, was a native of Mertzwiller, a small Alsatian village, and worked as a tailor. Minnie and Sam married on January 18, 1885. Their first child, Manfred, died of tuberculosis; Leonard was their second, and was followed in turn by Arthur, Julius, Milton, and Herbert.
Stage persona
Billing himself as Chico (pronounced as "CHICK-oh"), he used an Italian persona for his onstage character. Stereotyped ethnic characters were common with vaudevillians. His questionable Italian ethnicity was specifically referred to twice on film: in their second feature, Animal Crackers), he recognizes someone he knows to be a fish peddler from Czechoslovakia impersonating a respected art collector:
Reading List
Report Issue