Editing Marx Brothers (section)

==Family background and early life==
[[File:Early marx brothers with parents.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The only known photo of the entire surviving Marx family, c. 1915. From left: [[Groucho Marx|Groucho]], [[Gummo Marx|Gummo]], [[Minnie Marx|Minnie (mother)]], [[Zeppo Marx|Zeppo]], [[Sam Marx|Sam (father)]], [[Chico Marx|Chico]], and [[Harpo Marx|Harpo]].]]

The Marx Brothers were born in [[New York City]], the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France. Their mother [[Minnie Marx|Miene "Minnie" Marx]] (née Schoenberg) was from [[Dornum]] in [[East Frisia]]. She came from a family of performers. Her mother was a [[yodeling]] harpist and her father a [[Ventriloquism|ventriloquist]]; both were [[funfair]] entertainers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mrs. Minnie Marx. Mother of Four Marx Brothers, Musical Comedy Stars, Dies.|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/09/16/95997162.html#95997162.html?pageNumber=21&_suid=147094807936009446111808468656|access-date=August 11, 2016|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 16, 1929|page=27|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308014646/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/09/16/95997162.html#95997162.html?pageNumber=21&_suid=147094807936009446111808468656|url-status=live}}</ref> Around 1880, the family emigrated to New York City.  Their father, [[Sam Marx|Samuel ("Sam" or "Frenchy"; born Simon) Marx]], was a native of [[Mertzwiller]], a small [[Alsace|Alsatian]] village, and worked as a tailor.<ref>{{cite news|title=Samuel Marx, Father of Four Marx Brothers of Stage and Screen Fame|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 12, 1933|page=17|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/05/12/105134141.html#105134141.html?pageNumber=17&_suid=147094749463206243483555181057|access-date=August 11, 2016|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307232801/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/05/12/105134141.html#105134141.html?pageNumber=17&_suid=147094749463206243483555181057|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://judaisme.sdv.fr/perso/marxbr/geneal.htm|title=La famille paternelle des Marx Brothers|website=Judaisme.sdv.fr|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200011/http://judaisme.sdv.fr/perso/marxbr/geneal.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Minnie and Sam married in 1884.

[[File:Groucho und harpo.jpg|thumb|upright|Julius Henry Marx (Groucho, left) and Adolph Marx (Harpo) holding a rat terrier dog, c. 1906]] 

The family lived in New York City's [[Upper East Side]] in the [[Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville]] district centered in the Irish, German and Italian quarters. The eldest child in the household was their cousin Pauline, or "Polly", whom they often referred to as an adopted sister.{{sfn|Louvish|2000|p=9}}{{efn|Groucho talked about her in his 1972 Carnegie Hall concert.}} The Marxes' firstborn son, Manfred, was born in 1886, but died aged seven months, on July 17, 1886, of [[enterocolitis]], with "[[asthenia]]" contributing (i.e., probably a victim of influenza). He is buried in [[Washington Cemetery (Brooklyn)|Washington Cemetery (Brooklyn, NY)]], beside his grandmother, Fanny Sophie Schönberg (née Salomons), who died on April 10, 1901.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/index.htm|title=Family and Friends – The Marx Brothers|website=Marx-brothers.org|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921191017/http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/index.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Adamson | first = Joe | author-link = Joe Adamson | title = Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo: A Celebration of the Marx Brothers | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 1973 | location = New York | pages = 6–8 | isbn = 978-0-340-18807-1}}</ref>{{sfn|Louvish|2000|p=10-11}}

Leonard Joseph "Chico" Marx was the eldest of the surviving brothers, born in 1887. Adolph "Harpo" Marx was born in 1888, Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx in 1890, Milton "Gummo" Marx in 1892,{{efn|The 1900 Census shows Gummo's birth year as Oct 1892, and his WWI draft registration says Oct 21, 1892, Roll #1613143.  The year 1893 is given on his death certificate and his grave.}} and the youngest, Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx, in 1901.

During the early 20th century, Minnie helped her younger brother Abraham Elieser Adolf Schönberg (stage name [[Al Shean]]) to enter show business; he became successful in [[vaudeville]] and on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] as half of the [[musical comedy]] [[double act]] [[Gallagher and Shean]], and this gave the brothers an entrée to musical comedy, vaudeville and Broadway at Minnie's instigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/marxes.htm|title=Family – The Marx Brothers|website=Marx-brothers.org|access-date=September 21, 2018|archive-date=September 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921013705/http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/marxes.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Minnie also acted as the brothers' manager, using the name Minnie Palmer so that agents did not realize that she was also their mother. All the brothers confirmed that Minnie Marx had been the head of the family, the driving force in getting the troupe launched, and the only person who could keep them in order; she was also said to be a hard bargainer with theater management.<ref>{{cite book|title=''The Marx Brothers : Their World, Their Movies, Their Lives, Their Humour and Their Legacy'' by Robert G. Anstey|isbn=9781896779850|last1=Anstey|first1=Robert Graham|year=2002|publisher=West Coast Paradise Pub.}}</ref>