| Margaret Dumont | |
|---|---|
 Margaret Dumont stars as Mrs. Claypool in A Night at the Opera. A Night at the Opera is a 1935 Comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, |
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| Born | Daisy Juliette Baker October 20, 1882 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Died | March 6, 1965 (aged 82) Hollywood, California, United States |
| Occupation | Film actress |
Margaret Dumont (October 20, 1882 – March 6, 1965) was an American comedic actress. Events 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
She is remembered mostly for being the comic foil to Groucho Marx in seven of the Marx Brothers movies. A double act, also known as a Comedy duo, is a comic device in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners usually of the same The Marx Brothers were a popular team of sibling Comedians who appeared in Vaudeville, stage plays film and television Groucho called her "practically the fifth Marx brother. " (In fact, there were five Marx brothers, but only a maximum of four ever performed together. )
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Biography
Born Daisy Juliette Baker in Brooklyn, New York she adopted the stage name Margaret (and/or Marguerite) Dumont. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. A stage name, also called a screen name, is a Pseudonym used by Performers and Entertainers such as
Dumont played wealthy high-society widows whom Groucho alternately insulted and romanced for their money. They include Mrs. Potter in The Cocoanuts (1929), Mrs. The Cocoanuts ( 1929) was the first feature-length Marx Brothers film produced by Paramount Pictures. Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers (1930), Mrs. Animal Crackers is a 1930 Comedy film, in which mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Gloria Teasdale in Duck Soup (1933), Mrs. Duck Soup is a Marx Brothers Anarchic comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, with additional dialogue by Arthur Claypool in A Night at the Opera (1935), Emily Upjohn in A Day at the Races (1937), Mrs. A Night at the Opera is a 1935 Comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, A Day at the Races ( 1937) is the seventh movie starring the three Marx Brothers, with Margaret Dumont, Allan Jones Suzanna Dukesbury in At the Circus (1939), and Martha Phelps in The Big Store (1941). At the Circus is a 1939 Marx Brothers Comedy Film in which they save a circus from Bankruptcy. The Big Store ( 1941) is a Marx Brothers Comedy film in which Groucho, Chico and Harpo work to save the Phelps Groucho once said a lot of people believed they were married in real life, but they were not. A typical exchange, from Duck Soup, follows:
- 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!
Dumont also endured dialogue about her characters' (and thus her own) stoutish build, as with these lines, also from Duck Soup:
- Dumont: I've sponsored your appointment because I feel you are the most able statesman in all Freedonia.
- Groucho: Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself! You'd better beat it; I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing!
and:
- Groucho: Why don't we get married, and take a vacation? I'll need a vacation if we're going to get married. Married! I can see you now, in the kitchen, bending over a hot stove. But I can't see the stove!
Dumont's character would often give a short, startled-looking "take" to such insults, but would not otherwise respond and would apparently forget the insult quickly.
Dumont's presumed ladylike innocence (contrasting with Groucho's perpetual leer) was fodder for Groucho's oft-stated comment that the brothers had to explain jokes like this to her:
- Groucho (to the other brothers, during a battle sequence in Duck Soup): Remember, you're defending this woman's honor, which is probably more than she ever did!
and this, from A Night at the Opera:
- Dumont: Do you have everything, Otis?
- Groucho: I've never had any complaints yet!
Decades later, in his one man show at New York's Carnegie Hall, Groucho mentioned Dumont's name and got a burst of applause. Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east He informed the audience that she rarely understood the humor of their scenes together and would ask him, "Why are they laughing, Julie?" ("Julie" was her nickname for Julius, Groucho's birth name. )
Over the course of her lifetime, she played in 57 films, including some minor silent work that began with A Tale of Two Cities (1917). Her first feature film was the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts (1929), in which she played Mrs. The Cocoanuts ( 1929) was the first feature-length Marx Brothers film produced by Paramount Pictures. 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! (1964), in which she played Shirley MacLaine's mother, Mrs. Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an American Academy Award -winning Film and Theater Actress, well-known Foster.
She also played the same dignified, poised dowager with W.C. Fields (Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, 1942), Abbott and Costello (Little Giant, 1946), Laurel and Hardy (The Dancing Masters, 1943), Jack Benny (The Horn Blows at Midnight, 1945) and Danny Kaye (Up In Arms, 1944). W C Fields ( January 29, 1880 &ndash December 25, 1946) was an American Juggler, Comedian, and Actor Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 Universal Pictures Comedy film starring W William (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello (born Louis Francis Cristillo performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose Laurel and Hardy were the popular American -based comedy team of thin British-born Stan Laurel (1890-1965 and heavy American-born Oliver Hardy (1892-1957 The Dancing Masters is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film The plot involves the team running a ballet school and getting involved with an inventor Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky February 14, 1894 - December 26, 1974) was an American Comedian, vaudevillian The Horn Blows at Midnight ( 1945) is a comedy fantasy starring Jack Benny, directed by Raoul Walsh and co-starring Alexis Smith, Danny Kaye ( January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American award-winning Actor, Singer and Comedian She also played some dramatic parts, such as Youth on Parole (1937), and Dramatic School (1938).
Just days before her death from a heart attack, she made her final acting appearance on the television program The Hollywood Palace in early March 1965, where she was reunited onstage with Groucho -- that week's guest host -- one final time. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long Television Variety show that was broadcast weekly (generally on Saturday night on ABC from January They performed some material from Animal Crackers. Animal Crackers is a 1930 Comedy film, in which mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain The taped show was aired several weeks after her passing. Some sources say it was broadcast on April 10, others say April 17.
In her interviews and press profiles, Dumont preserved the myth of her on-screen character: the rich, regal woman who never quite understood the joke. She had claimed she had returned reluctantly to acting as a result of widowhood, turning to the Broadway stage in 1919 a year after her husband of eight years, sugar heir John Moller, Jr. , died suddenly. [1]
As a young actress, however, Dumont had specialized in straight female leads in musical comedies, where the cardinal rule was to make space for the featured comedian. Her theatrical debut was in Beauty and the Beast at the Chestnut Theater in Philadelphia. In August 1902, two months before her 20th birthday, she appeared as a singer/comedienne in a vaudeville act in Atlantic City. The dark-haired soubrette, whom a theater reviewer described as a "statuesque beauty," garnered notice later that decade for her vocal and comedic talents in The Girl Behind the Counter (1908), The Belle of Brittany (1909), and The Summer Widower (1910). [1]
Dumont's acting style, especially in early films, provides a window into the old-fashioned theatrical style, of projecting to the back row, such as trilling the "r" for emphasis. She also had a classic-sounding operatic singing voice, which screenwriters eagerly used to their advantage.
Movie critics and historians, perpetuating Groucho's joke on the subject as noted earlier, have stated for decades that since Dumont never broke character or cracked a smile at some of Groucho's jokes that she did not "get" the Marx Brothers type of humor. The fact is she knew the jokes were funny indeed, but as a seasoned actress and a professional kept a straight face no matter what. [1] In the early Marx films especially, when Groucho levels an insult at her, she can be seen giving an appropriate and fleeting "shocked" response as part of her characterization. One exception to her sticking with the script occurred in her last appearance with Groucho in 1965 on ABC-TV's Hollywood Palace. The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long Television Variety show that was broadcast weekly (generally on Saturday night on ABC from January Midway through a recreation of a scene from "Animal Crackers", Groucho stopped her as she was about to deliver her next line. "Don't step on the only laughs I'm getting" he scolded, which made her break up laughing.
The character of the wealthy dowager from The Simpsons is based on her work.
Death
On her death on March 6, 1965, Margaret Dumont was cremated, her ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and Columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street Los Angeles California, in the historic West Adams Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Dumont was 82 years of age. [2]
References
- ^ a b c Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers (Hardcover) by Simon Louvish. Thomas Dunne Books; 1st U.S. edition (2000).
- ^ "Margaret Dumont Dies at 75. Acted in Marx Brothers Films. ", New York Times, March 7, 1965. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 2007-08-21. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan.
External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dumont, Margaret |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Baker, Daisy Juliette |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1882-10-20 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn, New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1965-03-06 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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