On-stage and in film, the Marx Brothers' antic comedy won
millions of fans and left a major pop cultural legacy. Movies
like The Coconuts (1929) and A Night at the Opera (1935) remain
popular, and both Groucho Marx's wisecracking persona and Harpo
Marx's silent, woman-crazed clown remain well-known icons. From
their beginnings in vaudeville during the 1910s, to their rise
as popular film comics during the Depression, Chico, Harpo,
Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx delivered an energetic, anarchic
comedy that seemed to overflow both the stage and the screen.
The Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from
Germany, and all were born in New York City to Simon Marrix
(later changed to Marx) and Minnie Schonberg. The first son,
Manfred, died in infancy. Leonard Marx was born on March 22,
1887, and later adopted Chico as his stage name; Adolph Marx
(later Arthur) was born on November 23, 1888, and adopted the
stage name Harpo; Julius Henry Marx was born on October 2, 1890,
and used Groucho as his stage name;