Margaret Dumont would not 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). It is a popular myth that she never understood their jokes (offscreen and on); restored footage of Groucho's "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" shows her laughing at his ad libs. 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).
What a Way to Go!(1964)as Mrs. Foster
Zotz!(1962)as Persephone Updike
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show(1956)as Dowager no. 1
The Donna Reed Show(1958)as Mrs. Westcott Trilling
Auntie Mame(1958)as Noblewoman in Play
Seven Days Ashore(1944)
Duck Soup(1933)
Animal Crackers(1930)
The Hollywood Palace(1964)as Self
The Bob Hope Show(1950)as Self - Rosemary's Mother
The Colgate Comedy Hour(1950)as Self
Morir de humor(2008)
Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood(2005)
Remarks on Marx(2004)as Mrs. Claypool
On Your Marx, Get Set, Go!(2004)as Emily Upjohn
