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Margaret Dumont

Margaret Dumont

Actor · 1882–1965 · Brooklyn, New York, USA

IMDb

Biography

Margaret Dumont would probably 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). By all accounts she never understood their jokes (offscreen and on), which is of course a major reason why she's so funny. 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).

Acted in 54

1990s

  1. 1999

    Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults

    (archive footage)

1980s

  1. 1982

    The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell

    (archive footage)

1970s

  1. 1979

    The Hollywood Clowns

    (archive footage)

  2. 1976

    That's Entertainment, Part II

    (archive footage)

1960s

  1. 1964

    What a Way to Go!

    Mrs. Foster

    59
  2. 1962

    Zotz!

    Persephone Updike

  3. 1960

    Around the World with Nellie Bly

    Dowager #1

1950s

  1. 1958

    Auntie Mame

    Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)

    78

  2. The Donna Reed Show

    TV · 8 Seasons · Comedy · Family

    71
  3. 1956

    Shake, Rattle and Rock!

    Georgianna Fitzdingle

  4. 1952

    Stop, You're Killing Me

    Mrs. Whitelaw

  5. Three for Bedroom C

    Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne

  6. 1951

    Racket Squad

    TV · 3 Seasons · Drama · Action

1940s

  1. 1946

    Susie Steps Out

    Mrs. Starr

  2. Little Giant

    Mrs. Hendrickson

  3. 1945

    Sunset in El Dorado

    Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella

  4. Diamond Horseshoe

    Mrs. Standish

  5. The Horn Blows at Midnight

    Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder

    63
  6. 1944

    Bathing Beauty

    Mrs. Allenwood

    63

  7. Seven Days Ashore

    Mrs. Croxton-Lynch

  8. Up in Arms

    Mrs. Willoughby

    66
  9. 1943

    The Dancing Masters

    Louise Harlan

  10. 1942

    Rhythm Parade

    Ophelia MacDougal

  11. Tales of Manhattan

    Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)

  12. About Face

    Mrs. Culpepper

  13. Sing Your Worries Away

    Flo Faulkner - Landlady

  14. Born to Sing

    Mrs. E. V. Lawson

  15. 1941

    Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

    Mrs. Hemogloben

  16. The Big Store

    Martha Phelps

    66

  17. For Beauty's Sake

    Mrs. Franklin Evans

1930s

  1. 1939

    At the Circus

    Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury

    73
  2. 1938

    Dramatic School

    Pantomime Teacher

  3. 1937

    Wise Girl

    Mrs. Bell-Rivington

  4. High Flyers

    Martha Arlington

  5. Youth on Parole

    Mrs. Abernathy

  6. The Life of the Party

    Mrs. Penner

  7. A Day at the Races

    Emily Upjohn

    79
  8. 1936

    Arbor Day

    Woman Outside (uncredited)

  9. Song and Dance Man

    Mrs. Whitney

  10. Anything Goes

    Mrs. Wentworth

  11. 1935

    A Night at the Opera

    Mrs. Claypool

    82

  12. Rendezvous

    Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)

  13. Reckless

    Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)

  14. After Office Hours

    Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)

  15. 1934

    Kentucky Kernels

    Mrs. Baxter

  16. Gridiron Flash

    Mrs. Fields

  17. Fifteen Wives

    Sybilla Crum

  18. 1933

    Duck Soup

    Gloria Teasdale

    83

  19. Storm at Daybreak

    Duchess Sophie (uncredited)

  20. 1931

    The Girl Habit

    Blanche Ledyard

  21. 1930

    Animal Crackers

    Mrs. Rittenhouse

    79

1920s

  1. 1929

    The Cocoanuts

    Mrs. Potter

    73
  2. 1923

    Enemies of Women

    French Beauty

1910s

  1. 1917

    A Tale of Two Cities

    Aristocrat (uncredited)

Appearances5

1970s

  1. 1975

    Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

    Self (archive footage)

  2. 1972

    Hollywood: The Dream Factory

    Self (archive footage)

1930s

  1. 1933

    Wonderland of California

    Self