Chico Marx Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leonard Joseph

The brothers' real last name was Marx. The eldest Marx Brother, Manfred (1885-1886), died in infancy. Chico (Leonard Joseph) was the next (1887-1961) followed by Harpo (Adolph) (1888-1964), who changed his legal name to Arthur in 1912. Perhaps the best known of the brothers was Groucho (Julius Henry) (1890-1977). The next was Gummo (Milton) (1893-1977) who was only part of the act in years before World War One. The youngest brother was Zeppo (Herbert Manfred) (1901-1979) who appeared in several of the earlier Marx Brothers films.

Like his brothers, it is thought that Chico's name dated from his days in vaudeville. While many people pronounced his name as "Cheek-oh", it appears that the "correct pronunciation was "chick-oh". The earliest uses of the name were spelled "Chicko" before a printer's error dropped a letter. Interestingly, in the early days of their careers, Chico and his brothers used their nicknames only among themselves and were billed publicly by their given names. A fellow performer suggested that they use the nicknames professionally.

Late in his life, Chico's brother, Groucho, said that Chico got his name from being a "chicken-chaser" or "womanizer". Comments by other actors suggest that Chico's reputation in this regard continued until near the end of his life. His divorce from his first wife, Betty Karp, was caused at least in part by his frequent affairs.

Answer: Italian

In "The Cocoanuts", Chico portrayed a character named Willie. (The full name of the characters makes reference to an ethnic slur used to describe people of Italian descent.) The play takes place in Florida during the land-boom of the 1920s. Willie is a thief who is partnered with Silent Sam, a mute thief (Chico). Strangely, they are not the only thieves in the play as the theft of a necklace by another character is a significant plot device.

The music and lyrics of "The Cocoanuts" were written by Irving Berlin and the book was written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. The show ran for 276 performances in its initial run. Interestingly, though the play was a musical and Chico had a significant part, he did not have any featured vocals. He did, however, play an unnamed piano solo.

In the 1929 motion picture "The Cocoanuts" a number of dialogue segents and many of the songs are cut. Chico plays a character named Chico (which was the term used to describe his character in the original script of the play). Chico's piano solo in the film is "Gypsy Love Song" by Victor Herbert.

Chico's portrayal as an "Italian" dates back to his vaudeville days before World War One. It was relatively common for vaudeville performers to portray characters of various ethnicities, including stereotypical "characteristics". As can be seen in Chico's films, in some cases the "Italian" ethnicity is played as being dubious and others as being "real". Like his brothers, the real life Chico was French-Jewish on his father's side and German-Jewish on his mother's side.

Answer: False

Chico, along with his brothers, had rather limited formal education by modern standards. In fact Chico, by finishing sixth grade, made it farther in school than any of his brothers. Chico was said to be the favorite child of his parents, particularly his mother. This was said to have caused at least Groucho some feelings of jealousy growing up.

Despite his limited formal education, Chico is said to have shown the potential for success in a more academic setting. He was said to have a memory described as "photographic" (though not always used completely). Chico is also described as having great skill in mathematics. Groucho once said that if circumstances were different, Chico could have had great success in an academic career.

Answer: Piano

The song that Chico performs on the piano is "Pizzicato" from the ballet, "Sylvia". His musical contribution to the motion pictures are more extensive however. Along with his brothers, he can be heard singing "Sweet Adelaide" early in the film. Later, he, along with his brothers, each attempts to impersonate Maurice Chevalier by singing the song "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me". Finally, he along with Sol Volinsky wrote the words and music to "I'm Daffy Over You", which was performed on the harp by Harpo late in the film.

Chico learned how the play the piano at a young age from a teacher who played with only one hand. Chico's playing, though not technically exact, was sufficient for him to perform a large number of songs. He was the first brother to make a living from entertainment as he was performing the piano in various settings before adulthood.

Answer: New York City

Chico and all of his brothers were born in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, as were many second-generation immigrants of the time. His mother Minnie and father Sam each immigrated separately to the United States before being married in 1884. Interestingly, all of the brothers after Manfred, who died as an infant, died in the state of California.

His childhood in New York helped bring about Chico's facility with accents. As a child, he learned to mimic several accents in an attempt to avoid trouble as he interacted with various immigrant groups in the city. In fact, the brothers' entertainment careers (at least Broadway shows and early films) were largely centered on New York until the early 1930s.

Answer: Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel

Although all of these are former radio programs, "Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel" was the one in which Groucho and Chico starred. Officially, Harpo Marx was paid as a cast member, although the non-speaking nature of his character prevented him from performing in the series. The title of the program is named after a fictional law firm. Groucho plays a partner in the firm, Waldorf T. Flywheel. Chico portrays his assistant, Emanuel Ravelli, whom is often the patsy for Flywheel. (Chico's character in the 1930 film "Animal Crackers" had the same name).

The program was broadcast Monday evenings by the National Broadcasting Company's Blue Network. 26 episodes were produced during the single season. (Though the ratings were decent, a second season was not picked up.) The program was broadcast live from the network's New York City studios. Since both stars lived at the time in California, they needed to travel three days by train (each way) on a weekly basis to appear in the program. Several episodes were broadcast live from an unused soundstage at RKO studios.

Groucho would later star on his own in the radio series, "Blue Ribbon Town", (1943-1944). At roughly the same time, Chico spent several years in the 1940s fronting a band, the Chico Marx Orchestra.

Answer: Gambling

Chico was highly addicted to gambling, including in cards and betting on sports events. Though he made what should have been a comfortable living, his personal finances were often perilous. At a time when Harpo and Groucho were able to be semi-retired and selective about the entertainment jobs they took, Chico found himself forced to take poor paying jobs in the same small venues of his vaudeville career of decades ago in an attempt to make desperately needed money. In part, this shows how his gambling addiction also impacted his professional life.

By the 1940s, Chico was forced to declare bankruptcy. Groucho and Harpo accepted parts in the 1946 Marx Brothers film, "A Night in Casablanca", in part to help provide Chico with some additional income. (The 1941 film "The Big Store" had been intended as the swan song of the Marx Brothers as an act.) Later, the brothers took control of Chico's income and put him on an allowance in an attempt to provide financial stability.

Answer: The Story of Mankind

"The Story of Mankind" (1957) included the three brothers, though not on the screen at the same time. In one short segment, Chico appeared as a monk discussing plans with Christopher Columbus. In separate short segments, Harpo portrayed Sir Isaac Newton and Groucho was Peter Minuit. The film, though poorly received, was the only film in which the three brothers appeared in technicolor.

The final program in which the three brothers appeared together was an 1959 episode of "General Electric Theater" called "THe Great Jewel Robbery". Chico portrayed a police officer and Harpo was a thief. Groucho appeared in a cameo as a suspect in a police lineup. "Skidoo" (1968) was Groucho's final film role, where he played a mobster. By the time this film was made, both Chico and Harpo were dead. "Love Happy" (1949) was the last theatrical film where the three brothers all had significant roles, though no scene featured the three brothers together.

Answer: Pinochle

Pinochle is a trick-taking card game played with a special 48-card deck where there are eight cards (two of each suit) for the cards nine through ace. The game can be played with two-four players. Chico is said to have learned the game from his father, Sam Marx.

When Chico played publicly, he was said to sometimes purposely throw away good cards to amuse spectators. One of his last public appearances was on an 1960 episode of the ABC television program, "Championship Bridge". He was partnered with Ivan Erdos and played against John Gerber and Edith Kemp. Chico did not win that game, unfortunately.

Answer: Harpo

In his appearance on "I've Got a Secret", Chico wore a Harpo Marx like wig and carried a horn. Although the host attempted to have Chico answer questions by "honking" once for "yes" and twice for "no", partway through the segment Chico seemed to reverse this, either by accident or on purpose. Perhaps this came across as the sense of anarchy often associated with the Marx Brothers. Fortunately for the panel questioning Chico, they were able to determine that he was not Harpo before time was up. Chico then dropped the horn and put on his usual Tyrolean hat and spoke to the panel briefly before making his exit.

Those who observed the Marx Brothers together when not in character often remarked on their sibling resemblance. The resemblance between Chico and Harpo was described as particularly strong. Interestingly, in a number of their films, the characters of Chico and Harpo seemed to be "teamed-up" and sometimes operating against Groucho's character. At least to me, it seemed like there was history between Chico and Harpo's characters that predated the settings of those films.