Having all this history in the comedy game, though unspoken explicitly in the films, adds an extra authenticity to the straight man character. In the film, there is even a scene that takes place in the dark where Zeppo plays Spaulding when Groucho was unavailable. Zeppo’s performance was met with great praise, even from Groucho himself. Most famously, he assumed the role of Captain Spaulding in Animal Crackers for a run on stage when Groucho came down with appendicitis. In the biography of Groucho Marx Hello, I Must Be Going! by Charlotte Chandler (pen name for Lyn Erhard), Groucho proclaims, “Offstage, he was the funniest of us.” To showcase that onstage, Zeppo would often serve as understudies for his brothers in their stage productions. Part of why Zeppo has such a great rapport with Groucho, naturally, comes from growing up together as brothers and honing their skills not just in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film, but also simply in their day to day lives. While Margaret Dumont was the perfect person for Groucho to barrage with one-liners like they were going out of style, as she represented everything about the elite he looked to mock, and Chico served as the perfect accomplice for escalating nonsense, Zeppo’s characters provided a perfect partner for Groucho's routine to actually feel like he is having a conversation with someone instead of saying funny lines. Zeppo has many of these kinds of back and forths with Groucho over the course of their five films. RELATED: Rob Zombie to Direct Groucho Marx Pic Scripted by Oren Moverman However, once Zeppo left the troupe, a key component to making the brothers’ comedy work was lost, and that void proved nearly impossible to fill. After their contract with Paramount was up, Zeppo decided to leave the performing business entirely, becoming a theatrical agent for a number of Hollywood stars, including his brothers, due in large part with his frustrations of being the straight man and not getting to really show off his comedic chops. Typically, his role in their plays and films would be either the romantic lead or as Groucho’s assistant or secretary. He was also the most traditionally handsome of the bunch with a lovely singing voice.
With Groucho the master wisecracker and wordsmith, Harpo the otherworldly mischief maker, and Chico the overconfident conman, very little wacky comedic space could be filled up after that, and Zeppo became the designated stiff. Zeppo joined his older brothers Groucho, Harpo, and Chico in their stage performances in the late 1910s, replacing their brother Gummo who joined the army.
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