Gummo Marx

At 83 years old, Gummo Marx physical status not available right now. We will update Gummo Marx's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Although the fourth Marx Brother in age, he was the first to make his debut, pretending to be a dummy in an act with his uncle Henry Shean (né Heinemann Schoenberg), the brother of Al Shean, in 1899. Milton was put into a costume with a papier-mâché head and pretended to be a dummy while Henry pretended to work him. The act may have only been performed once and was not helped by Shean's deafness or Milton's stammer.

Gummo, who in an interview said he never liked being on stage, left the group and joined the military during World War I. He was not sent overseas because the armistice was signed shortly afterward. Gummo's younger brother Zeppo took his place in the group. After his Army career Gummo went into the raincoat business.

He later joined with Zeppo and operated a theatrical agency. After that collaboration ended, Gummo represented his brother Groucho and worked on the television show The Life of Riley, which he helped develop.

He also represented other on-screen talent and a number of writers, and was well respected as a businessman. He rarely required contracts, believing that if the people he represented liked his work, they would stay with him. Around the time he left his brothers' Vaudeville act, Marx applied for a patent for a clothes-packing rack. On October 28, 1919, Marx was granted patent US1320335A.

Gummo may have received his nickname because he had a tendency to be sneaky backstage, creeping up on others like a "gumshoe," slang for a detective. Another explanation cited by biographers and family members is that Milton, the sickliest of the brothers, often wore rubber overshoes, also called "gumshoes," to protect himself in inclement weather. According to Zeppo in a much later BBC TV interview, Gummo may have received his nickname because he was usually chewing gum.

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