Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx - Hardcover

A candid portrait of the century's most memorable comedian traces Groucho's rise to stardom; his famous ego; his relationships with wives, mistresses, and children; and much more. 35,000 first printing.

on is to start with a classic wisecrack: One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don't know.

But Groucho Marx, like Stefan Kanfer's superb biography, consists of much more than just jokes. Underneath the most famous Marx brother's oneliners and carefree attitude was a life dominated by deep sadness, professional dissatisfaction, and personal turmoil.

Beginning with the Marx Brothers' family heritage and their youth in turn-of-the-century New York, we see Julius and his brothers Adolph and Leonard become Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. We go backstage as they develop their routines in vaudeville, on Broadway, and, finally, in Hollywood. Groucho's story unfolds against the backdrop of the changing world around him and his star-studded milieu, which includes other classic comic figures such as Charlie Chaplin and W. C. Fields, as well as great names like Ben Hecht, George Gershwin, and even T. S. Eliot. Kanfer delves into Groucho's complicated relat