It was an absolute great way to get dates. It sounds like you were using this as currency quite a bit among your peers. They took the photo with, like, the 20 other guys in my dorm, and they published it in the yearbook – they didn’t notice. And I actually dressed up – I put a mustache on and a cigar and everything – and got in the picture. I went to UC Santa Barbara, and they did a yearbook photo. When I was in high school, there was an album that came out, and it was narrated by this very great radio guy named Gary Owens who was very, very famous – he was the announcer on “Laugh In”– and he would do an intro and the whole album was nothing but comedy bits taken from the Marx Brothers films.Īt that point I was probably 15 or something and going around and dressing up, and doing the whole thing, and then going off to college and then…
Groucho marx gameshow movie#
It never showed in theatres, and so I can literally remember watching that movie and thinking, “Wow, that’s kinda cool.” I was maybe 8 or 9, and I remember my mother and father saying “Oh, come in, ‘A Night at the Opera’ is on TV.” Back then, there was no way to see this stuff unless it was on TV. When I was growing up he was just kind of like this regular grandfather. He was obviously much funnier, but that was what he was known for. It was an Emmy-winning show, but at that particular point the movies had not been rediscovered, and the Marx brothers hadn’t been lionized and become these cultural icons, so Groucho was the equivalent of the retired Bob Barker. I grew up in the 60’s, so “You Bet Your Life” was off the air. I’ll be at lunch, and somebody will throw off some line or something, or they’ll try to relate a line of Groucho’s to whatever’s going on in the conversation.Īt what point did you realize that your grandfather was Groucho Marx and what that meant? There’s some legitimate ones that are good.
Andy’s a writer and photographer now. But in 1973 he was instrumental in saving this vital piece of Marxianna and Hollywood history from the garbage dump.įirst question: How many people have tried out their Groucho Marx impression on you? You can watch the show on Netflix now, or YouTube – which might not have been possible if it weren’t for the efforts of Andy Marx, the grandson of Groucho Marx. He sat in a chair with his cigar, wisecracking with the contestants for a long time, and the results were the stuff of classic TV. This was after his classic films with Chico, Harpo and Zeppo, and unlike those movies, Groucho didn’t dance around in a painted-on mustache.
Groucho marx gameshow tv#
Groucho Marx began hosting the TV game show “You Bet Your Life” in 1947. To listen to the audio interview, click here. Fortunately, contestants never left the show broke.An audio version of this interview ran on the APM radio program, "The Story," and is excerpted here as part of Salon's partnership with the show. Phyllis Diller made her national TV debut on You Bet Your Life and in a later episode, Groucho's brother Harpo made a cameo appearance. He later when on to roles in several movies. The most memorable contestant on the show was Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, a poor, illiterate Hispanic father who brought the house down since he was very funny. In an episode where Groucho, Edgar Bergen, and their daughters Melinda and Candice teamed up to win money for the Girl Scouts, Fenneman became the quiz master for that segment. Also sharing in the fun was George Fenneman, announcer, straight man and scorekeeper. The secret word was later used on the hit kids show Pee Wee's Playhouse. The duck was used because Groucho didn't want sirens blaring in his ear when someone said the word. Not only could contestants win money on the quiz they can also win if someone says the secret word, enable a stuffed duck to come down from the ceiling. The quiz portion was incidental to the interviews from Groucho. The show was also very funny, thanks to the quips and one-liners from host Groucho Marx. Before it's long TV run, it began in the late 40s on radio. I remember watching You Bet Your Life aka The Best of Groucho in the mid 70s and I thought it was an early TV game show classic.
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