Born: February 25, 1901
Died: November 30, 1979

Zeppo was the youngest of the five brothers. As a boy he was constantly involved in fights, which unlike Harpo or Groucho, he would win. He had a reputation for being quite the hooligan. It's always been Marx legend that Zeppo was placed into the act so that Minnie could keep him out of trouble.

He took over the straight man roles from older brother Gummo. He always seemed to be in the background, acting as a foil for Chico or Groucho. It always seemed to Zeppo that he stood in everyone else's shadow. He hated not being allowed to be a comedian on stage. According to his brothers he was the funniest of them all. Groucho is quoted as saying &"When I had my appendix out, Zeppo took over for me. He was so good that it made me get better quicker&". After he left each film would have a Zeppo like actor in it and none of them were as good at it as he was.

Offstage Zeppo was reputed to be a mechanical wizard and held many patents. He got his start with machines early. When Gummo and Groucho bought a car (back in the early vaudeville days) it was Zeppo who kept it running.

Zeppo would go through many careers in his lifetime. He worked machining parts for the war effort during WWII. He grew grapefruits. He ran a theatrical agency with Gummo. And he was a commercial fisherman.

At the end of his life Zeppo found himself in the middle of the disputes around Groucho's estate. As the last of the Marx Brothers he was very involved in the court case.

Zeppo Marx appeared in the following movies:

Film Title	Character name
A Kiss in the Dark - 1925-04	(Guest)
The Cocoanuts - 1929	Jamison
Animal Crackers - 1930	Horatio Jamison
Monkey Business - 1931	A Stowaway
The House That Shadows Built - 1931
Horse Feathers - 1932	Frank Wagstaff
Duck Soup - 1933	Bob Roland

Important dates in the live of Zeppo Marx:

25 Feb 1901	Herbert "Zeppo" Marx is born
1918	In The Cinderella Girl Zeppo replaces Gummo. This musical comedy is written by Jo Swerling with music by Gus Kahn
1921	The silent movie Humorisk is made with money raised by a friend. Director is Jo Swerling. It was made in two weeks at Fort Lee, NJ. studios and in a studio at 49th St. and 10th Ave. in New York. No copy exists of this (unfinished?) film.
1921	On the Mezzanine Floor (in England: On the Balcony) a musical revue written by Herman Timberg, produced by Benny Leonard
19 May 1924	Stage show I'll say she is, scripted by Will B. Johnstone, opens at the Casinos
8 Dec 1925	Stage show The Cocoanuts opens at the Lyric and runs for 275 performances, a full season on Broadway, as well as two years on the road.
12 Apr 1927	Zeppo marries Marion Benda
23 Oct 1928	Stage show Animal Crackers opens at the 44th Street Theater and runs for 191 performances. It was laid off the following summer, went on tour in mid-October.
3 Aug 1929	Film The Cocoanuts released
6 Sep 1930	Film Animal Crackers released
5 Jan 1931	The Marxes appear in the London Palace Theatre
19 Sep 1931	Film Monkey Business released
31 Aug 1932	Film Horse Feathers released
24 Nov 1933	Film Duck Soup released
1944	Zeppo and Marion adopt Timothy
12 May 1954	Zeppo and Marion get divorced
18 Sep 1959	Zeppo marries Barbara Blakely
1973	Zeppo and Barbara get divorced. Barbara later marries Frank Sinatra
16 Jan 1977	The Marxes are inducted to the Motion Picture Hall of Fame
29 Nov 1979	Zeppo dies of lungs cancer

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