Chico Marx's Biography

Dedicated to the wit and comedy of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo

Chico Marx

Birth name
Leonard Marx
Date of birth (location)
March 22, 1887 New York, NY
Date of death (details)
October 11, 1961 Hollywood, California, USA. (heart ailment)
Height
5' 8"
Married
Mary DeVithas 1958 - 1961) (his death)
Betty Carp (? - ?) (divorced); 1 daughter
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, When 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. 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. Marx, Leonard With his brothers, he usually played a rakish con artist with a Italian accent. He often had a scene where he would play the piano in his own unique comedy way.
Trivia

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Freedom Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Worship.
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 Benjamin "Bugsy" Segal's wallet at the time of his death, Chico was interrogated by police. He insisited the check was payment of a gambling debt from a poker game. When asked about his knowledge of Segal's criminal activities, Chico stated "We never discussed business."

More Biographical Information at: www.marx-brothers.org

I found this site while researching a school project and thought it was kinda cool that the City's/school's name is Chico. Check it out, it's kinda cool.

Movies Chico Appeared in:

Film Title	Character name
Humorisk - 1920/21 c.
The Cocoanuts - 1929	Chico
Animal Crackers - 1930	Signor Emanuel Ravelli
Monkey Business - 1931	A Stowaway
The House That Shadows Built - 1931
Horse Feathers - 1932	Barovelli
Hollywood on Parade No.5 - 1932
Duck Soup - 1933	Chicolini
Hollywood on Parade No.9 - 1933
A Night at the Opera - 1935	Fiorello
A Day at the Races - 1937	Tony
Room Service - 1938	Harry Binelli
At the Circus - 1939	Antonio Pirelli
Go West - 1940	Joseph Panello
The Big Store - 1941	Ravelli
Screen snapshot No. 110 - 1943
A Night in Casablanca - 1946	Corbaccio
Love Happy - 1949	Faustino
The Story of Mankind - 1957	Monk

Pictures of Chico | Gallery Contents