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Margaret Dumont

Margaret Dumont

Actor · Born 1882-10-19 · Brooklyn, New York, USA

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Biography

Margaret Dumont would probably consider it a tragedy that she is best-known for her performances as the ultimate straight woman in seven of the Marx Brothers' films (including most of their best). By all accounts she never understood their jokes (offscreen and on), which is of course a major reason why she's so funny. Apart from a small role in a 1917 Dickens adaptation, she spent her early career on the stage, ending up with the Marxes in the late 1920s in the stage versions of The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930), and was given a Paramount contract at the same time they were. She played similar roles alongside other great comedians, including W.C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy and Jack Benny and also played straight dramatic parts (her chief love), but few of them made much impact - it is as Groucho Marx's foil that she ranks among the immortals, and she died shortly after being reunited with him on "The Hollywood Palace" (1964).

Movies & TV Shows

  1. Duck Soup (1933) — Gloria Teasdale
  2. A Night at the Opera (1935) — Mrs. Claypool
  3. Animal Crackers (1930) — Mrs. Rittenhouse
  4. A Day at the Races (1937) — Emily Upjohn
  5. The Cocoanuts (1929) — Mrs. Potter
  6. Auntie Mame (1958) — Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
  7. What a Way to Go! (1964) — Mrs. Foster
  8. At the Circus (1939) — Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
  9. The Big Store (1941) — Martha Phelps
  10. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) — (archive footage)
  11. Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) — Mrs. Hemogloben
  12. Tales of Manhattan (1942) — Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
  13. The Dancing Masters (1943) — Louise Harlan
  14. Bathing Beauty (1944) — Mrs. Allenwood
  15. Little Giant (1946) — Mrs. Hendrickson
  16. The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) — Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
  17. Zotz! (1962) — Persephone Updike
  18. The Donna Reed Show (1958)
  19. Reckless (1935) — Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)
  20. After Office Hours (1935) — Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)
  21. The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950) — Self
  22. Rendezvous (1935) — Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)
  23. Up in Arms (1944) — Mrs. Willoughby
  24. Anything Goes (1936) — Mrs. Wentworth
  25. Kentucky Kernels (1934) — Mrs. Baxter
  26. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975) — Self (archive footage)
  27. Wise Girl (1937) — Mrs. Bell-Rivington
  28. Dramatic School (1938) — Pantomime Teacher
  29. Youth on Parole (1937) — Mrs. Abernathy
  30. A Tale of Two Cities (1917) — Aristocrat (uncredited)
  31. About Face (1942) — Mrs. Culpepper
  32. Seven Days Ashore (1944) — Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
  33. The Life of the Party (1937) — Mrs. Penner
  34. Born to Sing (1942) — Mrs. E. V. Lawson
  35. Storm at Daybreak (1933) — Duchess Sophie (uncredited)
  36. Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1956) — Georgianna Fitzdingle
  37. Sunset in El Dorado (1945) — Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
  38. Arbor Day (1936) — Woman Outside (uncredited)
  39. The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956) — Self
  40. Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972) — Self (archive footage)