Minnie Marx (born Miene Schönberg, 9 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was the mother and manager of the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

, a family of top-billed vaudevillians, top Broadway stars and, finally, film stars. She was also the sister of comedian and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

star

Al Shean Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg (May 12, 1868 – August 12, 1949), known as Al Shean, was a comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is mos ...

Early life

Marx was born Miene Schönberg in Dornum,

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover () was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hanover, and j ...

. Her parents Fanny née Salomons (1829–April 10,1901) and Levy "Lafe" Schönberg (1823–1919) were members of the local

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community. Her mother was a yodeling harpist, her father a ventriloquist. Her younger brother, Abraham Elieser Adolf, the future "

," was born in 1868. Early marx brothers with parents

About 1880 the family immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where Minnie married Samuel "Frenchie" Marx in 1884. Her son Manfred died in infancy in 1886. Her other children were Leonard Joseph (born 1887), Adolph (1888), Julius (1890), Milton (1892) and Herbert (1901), who would grow up to perform as the

Career

While managing the Marx Brothers, she went under the name of Minnie Palmer, so that booking agents would not know that the agent representing the Marx Brothers was their mother. She played the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

. As a tribute to her, all the brothers' daughters were given names that began with 'M': Chico with Maxine; Harpo with Minnie; and Groucho with

Miriam Miriam (, lit. ‘rebellion’) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Torah refers to her as "Miria ...

and Melinda. Gummo and Zeppo had no daughters. Minnie lived long enough to see her sons' 1929 film debut in '' The Cocoanuts'', but died later that year of a stroke.

Death

Marx died from a stroke on September 13, 1929, aged 64. She was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Glendale, Queens. When her husband died four years later, he was buried next to her.

In popular culture

Marx and some of her sons appear briefly as characters in Glen David Gold's novel '' Carter Beats the Devil''; the narrative identifies her as Minnie Palmer, and only gradually offers clues that the struggling vaudeville act traveling with her are the later-famous Marx Brothers. Marx (played by Shelley Winters) was also the main character in the stage musical '' Minnie's Boys''.

References

External links

Family - The Marx Brothers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Minnie 1864 births 1929 deaths 19th-century German Jews Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Marx Brothers