Chico Marx

Overview

Born
March 22, 1887 · New York City, New York, USA
Died
October 11, 1961 · Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart ailment)
Birth name
Leonard Marx
Height
5′ 6″ (1.68 m)

Mini bio

As a kid trying to negotiate his way through various gang territories to a floating crap game or a new pool hall where he was not yet known as a hustler, Leonard (Chico) Marx learned to fake several accents. Because he later employed an Italian accent in the Marx Brothers' act, people assumed his name was pronounced "Cheeko." Instead, Leonard was dubbed "Chicko" for his other consuming passion, women (or "chicks"), at which he was more successful than gambling, but when a typesetter dropped the "k" out of his name, the brothers let it stay as Chico. Chico was the brother who guided the Marxes to stardom. He took over the act's managment (amicably) from their mother, Minnie, and through audacity and charm, Chico secured the Brothers their first international (London) booking, their first Broadway show and their MGM contract with Irving Thalberg, among other successes.
- IMDb mini biography by: frank cullen, American Vaudeville Museum
Chico adopted the Italian dialect routines no doubt from the many Italian immigrants he grew up with in his New York City neighborhood. An avid gambler and womanizer (chasing "chicks" some say is how he got his nickname), he was an accomplished pianist with his own unique finger pecking style.
- IMDb mini biography by: John Nehrenz

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

With his brothers, he usually played a rakish con artist with an Italian accent. He often had a scene where he would play the piano in his own unique comedy way.
He had curly black hair and wore a black bowler hat in all of his appearances.

Trivia

Was an avid poker player and is rumored to have had a photographic memory so good, he could memorize the positions of cards in a deck. When a check written by Chico was found in mobster Bugsy Siegel's wallet at the time of his death, Chico was interrogated by police. He insisted the check was payment of a gambling debt from a poker game. When asked about his knowledge of Siegel's criminal activities, Chico stated, "We never discussed business." Groucho Marx later said of this incident, "Chico was lucky that Bugsy was shot. If Bugsy had tried to cash that check, it would have bounced. Then Bugsy would have shot Chico."
The famous phrase "Well, who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" is often referred to as a Groucho Marx quote, but it was actually delivered by Chico, in his characteristic Italian accent, in Duck Soup (1933) , playing the character Chicolini while impersonating Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho).
He and Harpo were usually mistaken as twins when they were young.
Allegedly, during the opening night party for their Broadway run of 'The Cocoanuts', Groucho informed Chico that Tallulah Bankhead had just walked into the room and wanted to meet him. Chico strode up to Bankhead and introduced himself with, "Miss Bankhead, I would like to fuck you". Bankhead laughed and replied "So you shall darling, so you shall". The story has since become a part of show business lore.
"What's the shape of the world?" was a question brother Groucho Marx (playing a teacher, with Chico as a student) asked in one of their early routines; years later, the two used the question to cheer each other up.

Quotes

I give up, why a duck?
[on his gambling habit] How much money have I lost from gambling in the past ten years? Find out how much money Harpo's got... that's how much I've lost.