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).
Movie | The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell | (archive footage) | 1982-01-02 |
Movie | The Hollywood Clowns | (archive footage) | 1979-03-23 |
Movie | That's Entertainment, Part II | (archive footage) | 1976-05-16 |
Movie | Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Self (archive footage) | 1975-08-06 |
Movie | What a Way to Go! | Mrs. Foster | 1964-07-31 |
Movie | Zotz! | Persephone Updike | 1962-10-03 |
Series | The Donna Reed Show | Unknown | 1958-09-24 |
Movie | Auntie Mame | Noblewoman in Play (uncredited) | 1958-12-04 |
Movie | Shake, Rattle and Rock! | Georgianna Fitzdingle | 1956-11-01 |
Series | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | Unknown | 1956-10-05 |
Movie | Three for Bedroom C | Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne | 1952-06-26 |
Movie | Stop, You're Killing Me | Mrs. Whitelaw | 1952-12-10 |
Series | Racket Squad | Unknown | 1951-06-07 |
Series | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Unknown | 1950-09-10 |
Movie | Little Giant | Mrs. Hendrickson | 1946-02-22 |
Movie | The Horn Blows at Midnight | Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder | 1945-04-28 |
Movie | Diamond Horseshoe | Mrs. Standish | 1945-05-02 |
Movie | Sunset in El Dorado | Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella | 1945-09-29 |
Movie | Seven Days Ashore | Mrs. Croxton-Lynch | 1944-04-25 |
Movie | Up in Arms | Mrs. Willoughby | 1944-02-17 |
Movie | Bathing Beauty | Mrs. Allenwood | 1944-06-27 |
Movie | The Dancing Masters | Louise Harlan | 1943-11-19 |
Movie | Sing Your Worries Away | Flo Faulkner - Landlady | 1942-03-06 |
Movie | Born to Sing | Mrs. E. V. Lawson | 1942-02-18 |
Movie | Tales of Manhattan | Mme. Langehanke (uncredited) | 1942-08-05 |
Movie | About Face | Mrs. Culpepper | 1942-04-16 |
Movie | Rhythm Parade | Ophelia MacDougal | 1942-12-11 |
Movie | For Beauty's Sake | Mrs. Franklin Evans | 1941-06-06 |
Movie | Never Give a Sucker an Even Break | Mrs. Hemogloben | 1941-10-10 |
Movie | The Big Store | Martha Phelps | 1941-06-20 |
Movie | At the Circus | Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury | 1939-10-20 |
Movie | Dramatic School | Pantomime Teacher | 1938-12-09 |
Movie | The Life of the Party | Mrs. Penner | 1937-09-03 |
Movie | A Day at the Races | Emily Upjohn | 1937-06-11 |
Movie | Youth on Parole | Mrs. Abernathy | 1937-10-04 |
Movie | High Flyers | Martha Arlington | 1937-11-07 |
Movie | Wise Girl | Mrs. Bell-Rivington | 1937-12-31 |
Movie | Anything Goes | Mrs. Wentworth | 1936-01-24 |
Movie | Song and Dance Man | Mrs. Whitney | 1936-03-11 |
Movie | Gypsy Sweetheart | Mrs. Van Updyke | 1935-03-30 |
Movie | After Office Hours | Mrs. Murchison (uncredited) | 1935-02-22 |
Movie | Reckless | Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited) | 1935-04-19 |
Movie | Rendezvous | Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited) | 1935-10-25 |
Movie | A Night at the Opera | Mrs. Claypool | 1935-11-15 |
Movie | We're Rich Again | Wedding Guest (uncredited) | 1934-07-13 |
Movie | Fifteen Wives | Sybilla Crum | 1934-07-15 |
Movie | Gridiron Flash | Mrs. Fields | 1934-10-06 |
Movie | Kentucky Kernels | Mrs. Baxter | 1934-11-02 |
Movie | Storm at Daybreak | Duchess Sophie (uncredited) | 1933-06-14 |
Movie | Duck Soup | Gloria Teasdale | 1933-11-12 |
Movie | Here, Prince | The Queen of Deleria (uncredited) | 1932-10-01 |
Movie | The Girl Habit | Blanche Ledyard | 1931-06-27 |
Movie | Animal Crackers | Mrs. Rittenhouse | 1930-08-08 |
Movie | The Cocoanuts | Mrs. Potter | 1929-05-23 |
Movie | A Tale of Two Cities | Aristocrat (uncredited) | 1917-03-10 |