Editing Chico Marx

{{short description|American comedian (1887–1961)}}
{{redirect|Leonard Marx|the American lawyer|Leonard Marks}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Chico Marx
| image              = Chico Marx - signed.jpg
| caption            = Chico {{circa|1930}}
| birth_name         = Leonard Joseph Marx
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1887|03|22}}
| birth_place        = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1961|10|11|1887|03|22}}
| death_place        = [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], [[California]], U.S.
| burial_place       = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]], Glendale, California, U.S.
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actor|comedian|pianist}}
| yearsactive        = 1910–1960
| height             = 5 ft 6 in
| other_names        = Leo Marx
| spouse             = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Betty Karp|1917|1940|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|Mary De Vithas<br>|1958|<!--As marriage ended with his death, year is omitted per Template:Marriage instructions--->}}}}
| children           = 1
| parents            = [[Sam Marx|Sam "Frenchie" Marx]] <br> [[Minnie Marx|Minnie Schönberg]]
| relatives          = [[Harpo Marx]] (brother)<br> [[Groucho Marx]] (brother) <br> [[Gummo Marx]] (brother) <br> [[Zeppo Marx]] (brother)<br> [[Al Shean]] (maternal uncle)
}}
[[File:Monkey Business lobby card 1931.JPG|right|thumb|Lobby card for ''Monkey Business'' (1931) with Chico (left) and [[Harpo Marx|Harpo]] (right)]]
'''Leonard Joseph''' "'''Chico'''" '''Marx''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɪ|k|oʊ}} {{respell|CHIK|oh}}; March 22, 1887{{snd}}October 11, 1961) was an American comedian, actor and pianist.<ref  name=NYTobit/> He was the oldest brother in the [[Marx Brothers]] comedy troupe, alongside his brothers [[Harpo Marx|Arthur]] ("Harpo"), [[Groucho Marx|Julius]] ("Groucho"), [[Gummo Marx|Milton]] ("Gummo") and [[Zeppo Marx|Herbert]] ("Zeppo"). His persona in the act was that of a charming, uneducated but crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and [[Tyrolean hat]]. On screen, Chico is often in alliance with Harpo, usually as partners in crime, and is also frequently seen trying to con or outfox Groucho. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood, the first-born being Manfred Marx who had died in infancy. In addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years.

==Early years==
Marx was born in [[Manhattan]], New York City, on March 22, 1887.<ref name=NYTobit/><ref name=age>During his lifetime, his year of birth had commonly been given as 1891 instead of the true year of 1887. As a result, obituaries reported his age at the time of his death as 70 rather than 74</ref> His parents were [[Sam Marx]] (called "Frenchie" throughout his life), and his wife, [[Minnie Marx|Minnie Schoenberg Marx]]. Minnie's brother was vaudeville  comedian [[Al Shean]], best known as one half of [[Gallagher and Shean]]. The Marx family was Franco-German [[Jewish]]. His father was a native of [[Alsace]] who worked as a tailor and his mother was from [[East Frisia]] in [[Germany]].<ref>{{cite journal| url=http://judaisme.sdv.fr/perso/marxbr/geneal.htm| title=La famille paternelle des Marx Brothers| first=Pierre| last=Kogan| trans-title=The paternal family of the Marx Brothers| language=fr| journal=The Jewish Genealogy Circle Review| date=July–September 2008| number=95}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Mrs. Minnie Marx. Mother of Four Marx Brothers, Musical Comedy Stars, Dies |newspaper=The New York Times| date=September 16, 1929| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/09/16/archives/mrs-minnie-marx-mother-of-four-marx-brothers-musical-comedy-stars.html| page=21| url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Samuel Marx, Father of Four Marx Brothers of Stage and Screen Fame |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/05/12/105134141.html |newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 12, 1933| page=17| access-date=June 27, 2008| url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Stage persona==
Billing himself as Chico (pronounced as "Chicko"), 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 (1930 film)|Animal Crackers]]'', he recognizes someone he knows to be a fish peddler from [[Czechoslovakia]] impersonating a respected art collector:

{{blockquote|{{dialogue
|r=Ravelli
|c=Chandler
|r|How is it you got to be Roscoe W. Chandler?|mood1=Chico
|c|Say, how did ''you'' get to be an ''Italian''?
|r|Never mind—whose confession is this?
}}}}

In ''[[A Night at the Opera (film)|A Night at the Opera]]'', which begins in Italy, his character, Fiorello, claims not to be Italian, eliciting a surprised look from [[Groucho Marx|Groucho]]:

{{blockquote|{{dialogue
|d=Driftwood
|f=Fiorello
|d|Well, things seem to be getting better around the country.|mood1=Groucho
|f|I don't  know, I'm a stranger here myself.|mood2=Chico
}}}}

A scene in the film ''[[Go West (1940 film)|Go West]]'', in which Chico attempts to placate an Indian chief of whom Groucho has run afoul, has a line that plays a bit on Chico's lack of Italian nationality, but is more or less proper Marxian wordplay:

{{blockquote|{{dialogue
|q=S. Quentin Quayle
|p=Joe Panello
|q|Can you talk Indian?|mood1=Groucho
|p|I was born in Indianapolis!|mood2=Chico
}}}}

There are moments, however, where his characters appear to be genuinely Italian; examples include the film ''[[The Big Store]]'', in which his character Ravelli runs into an old friend he worked with in Naples (after a brief misunderstanding due to his accent), the film ''[[Monkey Business (1931 film)|Monkey Business]]'', in which Chico claims his grandfather sailed with [[Christopher Columbus]], and their very first outing ''[[The Cocoanuts]]'', where Mr. Hammer (Groucho) asks him if he knew what an auction was, in which he responds "I come from Italy on the Atlantic Auction [Atlantic Ocean]!"  Chico's character is often assumed to be dim-witted, as he frequently misunderstands words spoken by other characters (particularly Groucho). However, he often gets the better of the same characters by extorting money from them, either by con or blackmail; again, Groucho is his most frequent target.

[[File:Chico Marx 1909.jpg|thumb|right|Chico Marx playing cards with himself; taken at [[Rockaway Beach, New York]], in July 1909, aged 22]]
Chico was a talented [[pianist]]. He originally started playing with only his right hand and fake playing with his left, as his teacher did so herself. Although he took lessons, Chico was a largely self-taught pianist. As a young boy, he gained jobs playing piano to earn money for the Marx family. Sometimes Chico even worked playing in two places at the same time. He would acquire the first job with his piano-playing skills, work for a few nights, and then substitute [[Harpo Marx|Harpo]] on one of the jobs. (During their boyhood, Chico and Harpo looked so much alike that they were often mistaken for each other.)

[[File:Chico Marx 1956.JPG|thumb|right|Chico playing his favorite piano at hotel in 1956]]
In the brothers' last film, ''[[Love Happy]]'', Chico plays a piano and [[violin]] [[duet]] with 'Mr. Lyons' ([[Leon Belasco]]). Lyons plays some ornate riffs on the violin; Chico comments, "Look-a, Mister Lyons, I know you wanna make a good impression, but please don't-a play better than me!"

[[File:Groucho and Chico Marx during A Day at the Races.jpg|thumb|left|Chico with Groucho on the set of ''[[A Day at the Races (film)|A Day at the Races]]'' (1937)]]
In a record album about the Marx Brothers, narrator [[Gary Owens]] stated that "although Chico's technique was limited, his repertoire was not." The opposite was true of Harpo, who reportedly could play only two tunes on the piano, which typically thwarted Chico's scam and resulted in both brothers being fired.

[[File:Marx Brothers 1931.jpg|left|thumb|150px|The Marx Brothers, from top: Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo Marx]]
Groucho Marx once said that Chico never practiced the pieces he played. Instead, before performances he soaked his fingers in hot water. He was known for 'shooting' the keys of the piano. He played passages with his thumb up and index finger straight, like a gun, as part of the act. Other examples of his keyboard flamboyance are found in ''[[Go West (1940 film)|Go West]]'' (1940), where he plays the piano by rolling an apple over the keys  and ''[[A Night in Casablanca]]'' (1946), where he performs a rendition of "[[The Beer Barrel Polka]]".

Chico became the unofficial manager of the [[Marx Brothers]] after their mother, [[Minnie Marx|Minnie]], died in 1929.<ref name=NYTobit/> As manager, he negotiated with the studios to get the brothers a percentage of a film's gross receipts—the first deal of its kind in [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] which has become common practice today. Furthermore, it was Chico's connection with [[Irving Thalberg]], head of production at [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], that led to Thalberg's signing the Brothers when they were in a career slump after ''Duck Soup'' (1933), the last of their films for [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]].

For a while in the 1930s and 1940s, Chico led a [[big band]]. Crooner [[Mel Tormé]] began his professional career singing with the Chico Marx Orchestra. Through the 1950s, Chico occasionally appeared on a variety of television anthology shows and some television commercials, most notably with Harpo (and a cameo appearance by Groucho) in "The Incredible Jewelry Robbery", a pantomime episode of ''[[General Electric Theater]]'' in 1959; This was the final appearance of the three Marx Brothers.

===Pronunciation and origin of name===
[[File:Chico Marx The College Bowl 1950.jpg|thumb|Chico starred in [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s 1950 comedy-variety series ''The College Bowl'' as a campus malt-shop owner who dispensed sodas and advice to the students.]]
His nickname ([[Marx_Brothers#Origin_of_the_stage_names|acquired during a card game]])<ref>{{cite book| last=Bader| first=Robert S.| title=Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers On Stage| publisher=Northwestern University Press| year=2016| page=414| isbn=978-0-8101-3416-4}}</ref> was originally spelled ''Chicko''. A typesetter accidentally omitted the 'k', so his name became ''Chico'' but the Marxes still pronounced it "Chick-oh", although others sometimes mistakenly pronounced it "Cheek-oh". Numerous radio recordings from the 1940s exist in which announcers and fellow actors mispronounce the nickname, but Chico does not correct them.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} As late as the 1950s, Groucho used the wrong pronunciation for comedic effect. A guest on ''[[You Bet Your Life]]'' told the quizmaster she grew up around [[Chico, California|Chico]] (California) and Groucho responded, "I grew up around Chico myself. You aren't Gummo, are you?" In most interviews, Groucho is heard correctly pronouncing it "Chicko", as in a Dick Cavett episode with Groucho talking to [[Dan Rowan]].

During Groucho's live performance at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1972, he states that his brother got the name Chico because he was a "chicken-chaser" (early 20th century slang for womanizer).<ref>{{cite AV media| url=https://archive.org/download/OTRR_An_Evening_With_Groucho_Singles/AnEveningWithGroucho_06_MyFamily_HowWeGotOurNames.mp3| title=How We Got Our Names| people=Groucho Marx, Marvin Hamlisch, Dick Cavett| publisher=A&M Records| location=Beverly Hills, Calif| year=1972}}</ref>

==Gambling==
<!--[[File:Marx Brothers 1948.jpg|right|thumb|[[Marx Brothers|The Marx Brothers]] (clockwise from bottom: Groucho, Chico, and Harpo) by [[Yusuf Karsh]] in 1948]]-->
[[File:Harpo and Chico Marx General Electric Theater 1959.JPG|thumb|right|Harpo and Chico in "The Incredible Jewelry Robbery", a 1959 episode of ''[[General Electric Theater]]''.]]
As well as being a compulsive womanizer, Chico had a lifelong [[Problem gambling|addiction to gambling]]. His favorite gambling pursuits were card games, horse racing, dog racing, and various sports betting. His addiction cost him millions of dollars by his own account. When an interviewer in the late 1930s asked him how much money he had lost from gambling, he answered, "Find out how much money Harpo's got. That's how much I've lost." Chico always bet on longshots and quickly developed a reputation for being a sucker. When out of games, horses and tips, Chico would make bets with strangers on the street whether the number of the next passing car license plate would be odd or even.<ref>{{cite book|last=Adamson|first=Joe|title=Groucho, Harpo, Chico and sometimes Zeppo|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1973|page=20|isbn=0-671-47072-8}}</ref> Gummo Marx, in an interview years after Chico's death, said: "Chico's favorite people were actors who gambled, producers who gambled, and women who screwed." In reference to Chico's well-known promiscuity, [[George Jessel (actor)|George Jessel]] quipped, "Chico didn't button his fly until he was seventy."<ref>{{cite book| last=Bader| first=Robert S.| title=Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers On Stage| publisher=Northwestern University Press| year=2016| page=132| isbn=978-0-8101-3416-4}}</ref>

Chico's chronic gambling addiction compelled him to continue working in show business long after his brothers had retired in comfort from their Hollywood income, and in the early 1940s, he found himself playing in the same small, cheap theater halls in which he had begun his career 30 years earlier.  The Marx Brothers' penultimate film, ''[[A Night in Casablanca]]'' (1946), was made largely for Chico's financial benefit since he had filed for bankruptcy a few years prior. At around this time, the rest of the Marx brothers, finally aware of Chico's out-of-control gambling, took full control over his finances; they took all money away from Chico as he earned it and put him on an allowance to curb his constant betting and gambling. Chico stayed on the allowance until his death.{{Citation needed|reason=Some sources say the brothers tried to control his spending but he always successfully resisted them|date=March 2023}}

Chico had a reputation as a world-class [[pinochle]] player, a game he and Harpo learned from their father. Groucho said Chico would throw away good cards (with the knowledge of spectators) to make the play "more interesting".{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} Chico's last public appearance was in 1960, playing cards on the television show ''Championship Bridge''. He and his partner lost the game.

==Personal life==
[[File:Marx brothers Tonight Show.jpg|thumb|All five Marx brothers (l-r)ː Harpo, Zeppo, Chico, Groucho, and Gummo before their Tonight Show appearance ]]
Chico was married twice. His first marriage was to Betty Karp in 1917. They had a daughter, Maxine (1918–2009). His first marriage was affected by his infidelity, ending in divorce in 1940. He was very close to his daughter Maxine and gave her acting lessons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_09_20.html#017760 |author=Evanier, Mark |title=News from me |date=September 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924174234/http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_09_20.html |archive-date=September 24, 2009}}</ref>

Chico's second marriage was to Mary De Vithas. They married in 1958, three years before his death.<ref name=NYTobit/>

==Awards and honors==
In the [[46th Academy Awards|1974 Academy Awards telecast]], [[Jack Lemmon]] presented Groucho with an honorary [[Academy Award]] to a standing ovation. The award was also for Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo, whom Lemmon mentioned by name. It was one of Groucho's last public appearances.  "I wish that Harpo and Chico could be here to share with me this great honor," he said, naming the two deceased brothers (Zeppo was still alive at the time and in the audience). Groucho also praised the late [[Margaret Dumont]] as a great straight woman who never understood any of his jokes.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/a1YsAxiiH98 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110825024939/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1YsAxiiH98&gl=US&hl=en&amp;has_verified=1 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1YsAxiiH98 |title=Groucho Marx receiving an Honorary Oscar® |publisher=Oscars.org |date=November 24, 2009 |access-date=August 17, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Chicograve.jpg|thumb|right|Crypt of Chico Marx]]
Chico died of [[arteriosclerosis]] at the age of 74 on October 11, 1961, at his Hollywood home.<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news| title=Chico Marx, Stage and Film Comedian, Dies at 70. Oldest of 5 Brothers Took Role of Italian Piano Player. Team Business Manager| url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/10/12/101477032.html |access-date=August 12, 2016| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=October 12, 1961| page=29| url-access=subscription}}</ref> He was the eldest brother and the first to die.<ref name=age/> He was survived by his second wife Mary and daughter Maxine (from his first marriage to Betty Karp).

Chico is entombed in the [[mausoleum]] at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]]. Chico's brother Gummo is in a crypt across the hall from him.<ref>{{cite book| title=Marx, Chico; Marx, Gummo| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bOJCgAAQBAJ&dq=gummo+marx+Freedom+Mausoleum&pg=PA62| last=Ellenburger| first=Allen R.| date=May 1, 2001| page=62| publisher=McFarland| location=Jefferson, North Carolina| isbn=978-0-7864-0983-9}}</ref>

==Portrayals==

Actor [[Michael Tucci]] portrayed Chico alongside [[Gabe Kaplan]] as Groucho in the play ''[[Groucho: A Life in Revue|Groucho]]'' (later released on home video under the title ''Gabe Kaplan as Groucho'') originally broadcast on [[HBO]] in 1982.

Actors who have portrayed Chico Marx in stage revivals of the Marx Brothers musical plays include Peter Slutsker, Les Marsden and [[Matt Roper]]. Frank Lazarus played Chico in a [[Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel|1990 radio adaptation of ''Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel'']].

== Filmography ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
;Films
* ''[[The Cocoanuts]]'' (1929) as Chico (Signor Pastrami)
* ''[[Animal Crackers (1930 film)|Animal Crackers]]'' (1930) as Signor Emanuel Ravelli
* ''[[The House That Shadows Built]]'' (1931) as Tomalio
* ''[[Monkey Business (1931 film)|Monkey Business]]'' (1931) as Chico
* ''[[Horse Feathers]]'' (1932) as Baravelli
* ''[[Duck Soup (1933 film)|Duck Soup]]'' (1933) as Chicolini
* ''[[A Night at the Opera (film)|A Night at the Opera]]'' (1935) as Fiorello
* ''[[A Day at the Races (film)|A Day at the Races]]'' (1937) as Tony
* ''[[Room Service (1938 film)|Room Service]]'' (1938) as Harry Binelli 
* ''[[At The Circus]]'' (1939) as Antonio "Tony" Pirelli
* ''[[Go West (1940 film)|Go West]]'' (1940) as Joseph Panello
* ''[[The Big Store]]'' (1941) as Ravelli
* ''[[A Night in Casablanca]]'' (1946) as Corbaccio 
* ''[[Love Happy]]'' (1949) as  Faustino the Great
* ''[[The Story of Mankind (film)|The Story of Mankind]]'' (1957) as a Monk 
{{div col end}}

==Broadway==
* ''[[I'll Say She Is]]''
* ''[[The Cocoanuts (musical)|The Cocoanuts]]''
* ''[[Animal Crackers (musical)|Animal Crackers]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography|Film}}
{{commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|555597}}
* {{TCMdb name| 123998{{!}}31260| Chico Marx }}
* {{YouTube|yZyhosgpS48|Chico plays piano in ''Animal Crackers''}}
* {{YouTube|3kDHD4Bs_EI|Chico plays piano in ''Horse Feathers''}}
* {{YouTube|jkCiRSDPIzk|Chico plays piano in ''A Night at the Opera''}}
* {{YouTube|T5MCn2juMS0|Chico plays piano in ''A Day at the Races''}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM2op9y3tms How to play piano like Chico Marx]
* [http://www.marx-brothers.org/living/chico.htm Chico Marx at Marx Brothers.org]
* [http://www.marx-brothers.org/news.htm News - The Marx Brothers]
* {{YouTube|Hyk-N6CTJBU|Chico Marx on Championship Bridge with Charles Goren, 1960}}
{{Marx Brothers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Chico}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1961 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American comedians]]
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[[Category:20th-century American pianists]]
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[[Category:American male pianists]]
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