Person
Margaret Dumont
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Margaret Dumont would probably consider it a tragedy that she is best-known for her performances as the ultimate straight woman in seven of the Marx Brothers' films (including mos…
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Margaret Dumont would probably consider it a tragedy that she is best-known for her performances as the ultimate straight woman in seven of the Marx Brothers' films (including most of their best). By all accounts she never understood their jokes (offscreen and on), which is of course a major reason why she's so funny. Apart from a small role in a 1917 Dickens adaptation, she spent her early career on the stage, ending up with the Marxes in the late 1920s in the stage versions of The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930), and was given a Paramount contract at the same time they were. She played similar roles alongside other great comedians, including W.C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy and Jack Benny and also played straight dramatic parts (her chief love), but few of them made much impact - it is as Groucho Marx's foil that she ranks among the immortals, and she died shortly after being reunited with him on "The Hollywood Palace" (1964).
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1999
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Movie (archive footage)
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1982
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
Movie (archive footage)
-
1979
The Hollywood Clowns
Movie (archive footage)
-
1976
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie (archive footage)
-
1975
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
1972
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie Self (archive footage)
-
1964
What a Way to Go!
Movie Mrs. Foster
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1962
Zotz!
Movie Persephone Updike
-
1960
Around the World with Nellie Bly
Movie Dowager #1
-
1958
Auntie Mame
Movie Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
-
1958
The Donna Reed Show
TV show
-
1956
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
Movie Georgianna Fitzdingle
-
1956
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV show Self
-
1952
Stop, You're Killing Me
Movie Mrs. Whitelaw
-
1952
Three for Bedroom C
Movie Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
-
1951
Racket Squad
TV show
More credits
-
1950
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV show Self
-
1946
Susie Steps Out
Movie Mrs. Starr
-
1946
Little Giant
Movie Mrs. Hendrickson
-
1945
Sunset in El Dorado
Movie Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
-
1945
Diamond Horseshoe
Movie Mrs. Standish
-
1945
The Horn Blows at Midnight
Movie Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
-
1944
Bathing Beauty
Movie Mrs. Allenwood
-
1944
Seven Days Ashore
Movie Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
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1944
Up in Arms
Movie Mrs. Willoughby
-
1943
The Dancing Masters
Movie Louise Harlan
-
1942
Rhythm Parade
Movie Ophelia MacDougal
-
1942
Tales of Manhattan
Movie Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
-
1942
About Face
Movie Mrs. Culpepper
-
1942
Sing Your Worries Away
Movie Flo Faulkner - Landlady
-
1942
Born to Sing
Movie Mrs. E. V. Lawson
-
1941
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Movie Mrs. Hemogloben
-
1941
The Big Store
Movie Martha Phelps
-
1941
For Beauty's Sake
Movie Mrs. Franklin Evans
-
1939
At the Circus
Movie Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
-
1938
Dramatic School
Movie Pantomime Teacher
-
1937
Wise Girl
Movie Mrs. Bell-Rivington
-
1937
High Flyers
Movie Martha Arlington
-
1937
Youth on Parole
Movie Mrs. Abernathy
-
1937
The Life of the Party
Movie Mrs. Penner
