Groucho and Me – the autobiography of Groucho Marx
Groucho and Me is a very entertaining autobiography of Groucho Marx, written by Julius Marx (Groucho’s real name). Witty and entertaining, with piles of anecdotes, it’s well worth reading if you’re a fan of Groucho Marx – but not if you’re looking for accuracy or detail of life behind the scenes for the Marx Brothers. For example, Groucho’s version of the story behind why Harpo never spoke on screen is hilariously funny; but totally inaccurate.
If you’re looking for detail or accuracy, you’ll have to look elsewhere; but if you’re looking for an entertaining read directly from the fingers of Groucho himself, look no further. A recommended read. For a taste, feel free to check out funny quotes from Groucho and Me.
Table of Contents – Groucho and Me
- Why Write When You Can Telegraph Your Punches?
- Who Needs Money? (We Did)
- Home Is Where You Hang Your Head
- Out on a Limb of My Family Tree
- My Youth – and You Can Have It
- Have Nothing, Will Travel
- The First Act Is The Hardest
- A Wand’ring Minstrel, I
- A Slight Case of Auto-eroticism
- Tank Towns, Ptomaine, and Tomfoolery
- A Homey Essay on Housemanship
- Some Clowning that Wasn’t in the Act
- Out of Little Minds and Into the Big Time
- Rich is Better
- How I Starred in the Follies of 1929
- White Nights, Why Are You Blue?
- Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch House
- They Call It the Golden State
- Inside Hollywood
- The Patient’s Dilemma
- Why Do They Call It Love When They Mean Sex?
- Melinda and Me
- My Personal Decathlon
- Yo Heave Ho, and Over the Rail
- Go Fish
- Foot in Mouth Disease
- What Price Pumpernickel?
- You Bet My Life
Groucho and Me, by Groucho Marx – from the back cover
The “Me” in the title is a comparatively unknown Marx named Julius (1895-1977) who, under the nom de plume of Groucho enjoyed a sensational career on Broadway and in Hollywood with such comedy classics as Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races . His solo career included work as a film actor, television game emcee, and author of The Groucho Letters (available from Da Capo Press), Memoirs of a Mangy Lover, and his classic autobiography Groucho and Me.
With impeccable timing, outrageous humor and irreverent wit, and a superb sense of the ridiculous, Groucho tells the saga of the Marx Brothers: the poverty of their childhood in New York’s Upper East Side; the crooked world of small-time vaudeville (where they learned to carry blackjacks); how a pretzel magnate and the graceless dancer of his dreams led to the Marx Brothers’ first Broadway hit, I’ll Say She Is!; how the stock market crash in 1929 proved a godsend for Groucho (even though he lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars); the adventures of the Marx Brothers in Hollywood, the making of their hilarious films, and Groucho’s triumphant television series, You Bet Your Life!. Here is the life and lunatic times of the great eccentric genius, Groucho a.k.a. Julius Marx.