Margaret Dumont (born October 20, 1889; died March 6, 1965) was an American comedic actress. Jump to: navigation, search October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ...

Born Daisy Juliette Baker in Brooklyn, New York she adopted the stage name Margaret and/or Marguerite Dumont. She is remembered mostly for being the comic foil to Groucho Marx in seven of the Marx Brothers movies. Groucho called her practically the fifth Marx brother. (There were in fact five Marx brothers, but only a maximum of four ever performed together.) For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... A stage name, or a screen name for movie stars, is a pseudonym used by performers and actors. ... A straight man is a role in a comedy double act where a performer works with a comedian by setting up the situations or feeding the lines that allow their partner to make a joke. ... Groucho Marx poses for an NBC promotional photograph Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ... Jump to: navigation, search The brothers in Hollywood: (left to right) Chico, Zeppo, Groucho, Harpo The Marx Brothers were a team of sibling comedians that played in vaudeville, stage plays, film and television. ...

Dumont played wealthy high-society widows whom Groucho alternately insulted and romanced for their money. They include Mrs Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers, Mrs Claypool in A Night at the Opera, Mrs Gloria Teasdale in Duck Soup, Martha Phelps in The Big Store, Mrs Susan Dewkesbury in At the Circus, and Emily Upjohn in A Day at the Races. Groucho once said a lot of people believed they were married in real life, but they were not. A typical exchange, from Duck Soup: Animal Crackers is a 1930 comedy film, and one of the Marx Brothers most beloved and oft-quoted movies. ... A Night At the Opera is a 1935 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. ... Cover of Duck Soup DVD. Duck Soup is a 1933 Marx Brothers anarchic comedy film written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman, and Nat Perrin and directed by Leo McCarey. ... The Big Store is a 1941 Marx Brothers comedy film in which the brothers work to save Phelps department store The Big Store co-starred Marx Brothers foil Margaret Dumont as well as Tony Martin and Virginia Grey. ... At the Circus is a 1939 Marx Brothers comedy film in which they save a circus from bankruptcy. ... Code book scene A Day at the Races A Day at the Races (1937) is the seventh movie starring the three Marx Brothers, with Margaret Dumont, Allan Jones and Maureen OSullivan. ...

Groucho: You might think me a sentimental old fluff... but would you mind giving me a lock of your hair?

Dumont (smitten): A lock of my hair? Why, I had no idea that you...

Groucho: You're getting off easy. I was going to ask for the whole wig!

Over the course of her lifetime she played in 40 movies, not including some minor silent work. Her first feature film was the Marx Brothers movie The Cocoanuts in 1929 in which she played Mrs Potter, the same role she played in the stage version from which the film was adapted. Her last movie was What a Way to Go! in 1964, in which she played Shirley MacLaine's mother. Jump to: navigation, search Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Cover of sheet music for When My dreams Come True The Cocoanuts (1929) is the first released Marx Brothers film. ... Jump to: navigation, search Shirley MacLaine, born Shirley MacLean Beaty (born April 24, 1934 in Richmond, Virginia), is an American actress of Scotch-Irish descent, well-known not only for her acting but for her devotion to her belief in reincarnation. ...

She also played the same type with W.C. Fields (in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break), Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye. She also played some dramatic parts. W. C. Fields (January 29, 1880 - December 25, 1946) was an American comedian and actor. ... Abbott and Costello is the name of an American comedy duo made up of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. ... Laurel and Hardy Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are probably the most famous comedy duo in film history. ... Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was a comedian, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the most prominent early stars of American radio and television. ... Jump to: navigation, search Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ...

Just days before her death in 1965, she made her final acting appearance on the television programme The Hollywood Palace, where she was, perhaps fittingly, reunited with Groucho one last time. Jump to: navigation, search The Hollywood Palace was an hour-long television variety show produced by Nick Vanoff. ...

In her interviews and press profiles she preserved the myth of her on-screen character - the rich, regal woman who never quite understood the joke - and claimed she had returned reluctantly to acting as a result of widowhood. But as a young actress she had specialised in straight female-leads in musical comedies, where the cardinal rule was to make space for the featured comedian. Perhaps the joke was not entirely on her.

On her passing in 1965, Margaret Dumont was cremated, her ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. Chapel of the Pines Crematory at 1605 South Catalina Street in Los Angeles, California is located near the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ...

External link

• Margaret Dumont at the Internet Movie Database