Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (/ˈɡraʊtʃoʊ/; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit and one of America's greatest comedians.
He made 13 feature films as a team with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born, some of his brothers, Harpo, Chico & Zeppo also get referenced through the show. His distinctive vocal delivery style, and appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, spectacles, cigar, a thick greasepaint mustache, and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses: a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, a large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache. He also had a highly successful solo career up and through television including the Game Show 'You Bet Your Life'
Nearly all of these elements were targets for mimicry and references through the 4 seasons of Mork & Mindy.
About Groucho[]
Julius Henry Marx was born on October 2, 1890, in Manhattan, New York, one of 5 brothers . The Marx children grew up in a turn-of-the-century building on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side of the borough of Manhattan. His brother Harpo, in his memoir Harpo Speaks, called the building "the first real home they ever knew:
Marx's family was Jewish. His mother was Miene "Minnie" Schoenberg, whose family came from Dornum in northern Germany when she was 16 years old. His father was Simon "Sam" Marx, who changed his name from Marrix, and was called "Frenchie" by his sons throughout his life, because he and his family came from Alsace in France. Minnie's brother was Al Schoenberg, who shortened his name to Al Shean when he went into show business as half of Gallagher and Shean, a noted vaudeville act of the early 20th century.
After a few stabs at entry-level office work and jobs suitable for adolescents, Julius took to the stage as a boy singer with the Gene Leroy Trio, debuting at the Ramona Theatre in Grand Rapids, MI, on July 16, 1905. Marx reputedly claimed that he was "hopelessly average" as a vaudevillian, but this was typical Marx, wisecracking in his true form. By 1909, Minnie Marx had assembled her sons into an undistinguished vaudeville singing group billed as "The Four Nightingales". The brothers Julius, Milton (Gummo Marx) and Arthur (originally Adolph, but Harpo Marx from 1911) and another boy singer, Lou Levy, traveled the U.S. vaudeville circuits to little fanfare. After a particularly dispiriting performance in Nacogdoches, Texas, Julius, Milton, and Arthur began cracking jokes onstage for their own amusement. Much to their surprise, the audience liked them better as comedians than as singers. For a time in vaudeville, all the brothers performed using ethnic accents. Leonard, the oldest, developed the Italian accent he used as Chico Marx to convince some roving bullies that he was Italian, not Jewish. Arthur (Harpo), the next oldest, donned a curly red wig and became "Patsy Brannigan", a stereotypical Irish character. His discomfort when speaking on stage led to his uncle Al Shean's suggestion that he stop speaking altogether and play the role in mime. Groucho initially played his with a German accent but was booed after the outbreak of the First World War, so he quickly dropped the accent and developed the fast-talking wise-guy character that became his trademark.
The Marx Brothers became the biggest comedic stars of the Palace Theatre in New York, which billed itself as the "Valhalla of Vaudeville". Brother Chico's deal-making skills resulted in three hit plays on Broadway. No other comedy routine had ever so infected the Broadway circuit. All of this stage work predated their Hollywood career. By the time the Marxes made their first movie, they were already major stars with sharply honed skills; Groucho Marx made 26 movies, 13 of them with his brothers Zeppo, but mostly Chico and Harpo. He developed a routine as a wisecracking hustler with a distinctive chicken-walking lope, an exaggerated greasepaint mustache and eyebrows, and an ever-present cigar, and by the time Groucho was relaunched to stardom on You Bet Your Life, he had been performing successfully for half a century.
Mork's Multiple References[]
Mork's Greatest Hit - George has staked the house out waiting for Mork to return in an effort to get him to fight, to avoid him, Mork enters the apartment in a long coat and a set of Groucho Marx glasses as a disguise, scaring the hell out of Mindy.
Mork's Baby Blues - When reporting back to Orson on what happened with Kathy Cumberland the gold digger Mork tells Orson 'That was no lady that was almost my wife' doing a Groucho Marx impersonation.
Mork in Groucho Glasses
Mork Meets Robin Williams - In gearing up his courage to accompany Mindy to the stage where Robin Williams is putting on a show, full sure that everyone knows he's an Alien (instead of seeing his resemblance to Mork), Mork once again dons his Groucho Marx glasses.
Present Tense - While serving up Mindy part of their special romantic Moroccan dinner Mork impersonates Groucho Marx when presenting the second course of Couscous and Mahi Mahi, by way of Lou Lou in Walla Walla.
Gotta Run, Part 3 - Kalnik does an impersonation of Groucho Marx, paraphrasing his old game show title 'You Bet Your Life' into 'You Lose Your Life'.
The Mork Report - In teasing Mindy about her cleanliness neuroses and his night cap on the ground, Mork does a Groucho Marx impersonation 'Say the magic word the hat might disappear' riffing on the 'Secret Word' from Groucho's 'You Bet Your Life' Show.
Other Marx Brother's References[]
Harpo - Mork In Wonderland, Part 2 - Due to being completely out of breath, Mork does a full on Harpo miming routine - in trying to get across the trouble Mandy is in.
Zeppo - There's A New Mork In Town - When Mork tells Mindy that Xerko is coming to stay with them, looking quizzical she asks 'One of the Marx brothers?' confusing him for Zeppo.
Chico - Gotta Run, Part 3 - In response to Kalniks Groucho's impersonation, Mork does an impersonation of fellow Marx Brother, Chico, paraphrasing the Wizard of Oz's Dorothy's 'There's No Place Like Home' into 'There's no place like Rome' due to Chico's faux Italian persona. He also does a Chico impersonation in the animated episode The Greatest Shmo on Earth.