Margaret Dumont

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Margaret Baker

Birth Place

Brooklyn, New York, USA

Born

October 20, 1889

Died

March 06, 1965

Cause of Death

Heart Attack

Biography

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Stately, imperious comedienne best known as the sophisticated butt of many a star comic's insults and sight gags, especially those of the Marx Brothers....

Filmography

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What a Way To Go! (1964)

Persephone Updike

Auntie Mame (1958)

Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956)

Georgianna Fitzdingle

Stop, You're Killing Me (1953)

3 for Bedroom C (1952)

Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne

Photos & Videos

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Animal Crackers (1930) -- (Movie Clip) An Elephant In My Pajamas

Animal Crackers (1930) -- (Movie Clip) Hello, I Must Be Going

Biography

Stately, imperious comedienne best known as the sophisticated butt of many a star comic's insults and sight gags, especially those of the Marx Brothers.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

What a Way To Go! (1964)

Persephone Updike

Auntie Mame (1958)

Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956)

Georgianna Fitzdingle

Stop, You're Killing Me (1953)

3 for Bedroom C (1952)

Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne

Little Giant (1946)

Mrs. Hendrikson

Susie Steps Out (1946)

The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945)

Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe (1945)

Mrs. Sylvester Standish

Sunset in Eldorado (1945)

Aunt Dolly/Aunt Arabella

Up in Arms (1944)

Mrs. Willoughby

Seven Days Ashore (1944)

Mrs. Croxton-Lynch

Bathing Beauty (1944)

The Dancing Masters (1943)

Born to Sing (1942)

Mrs. E. V. Lawson

Sing Your Worries Away (1942)

Rhythm Parade (1942)

Ophelia MacDougal

About Face (1942)

The Big Store (1941)

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)

Mrs. Hemogloben

For Beauty's Sake (1941)

Mrs. Franklin Evans

At the Circus (1939)

Mrs. [Suzanah] Dukesbury

The Women (1939)

Dramatic School (1938)

Pantomimic teacher

The Life of the Party (1937)

Wise Girl (1937)

Mrs. Bell-Rivington

A Day at the Races (1937)

High Flyers (1937)

Martha Arlington

Youth on Parole (1937)

Song and Dance Man (1936)

Anything Goes (1936)

Orchids to You (1935)

A Night at the Opera (1935)

After Office Hours (1935)

Gridiron Flash (1934)

Fifteen Wives (1934)

Kentucky Kernels (1934)

Duck Soup (1933)

Mrs. [Gloria] Teasdale

The Girl Habit (1931)

Mrs. [Blanche] Ledyard

Animal Crackers (1930)

Mrs. Rittenhouse

The Cocoanuts (1929)

Cast (Special)

More of the Best of the Hollywood Palace (1993)

Cast (Short)

Gypsy Sweetheart (1934)

Life Events

1917

Broadway debut

1929

Screen acting debut in "The Cocaunuts"

Photo Collections

A Night at the Opera - Publicity Stills

Here are a few publicity photos taken for MGM's A Night at the Opera (1935), starring the Marx Bros. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.

Videos

Animal Crackers (1930) -- (Movie Clip) An Elephant In My Pajamas A segment of one of the more famous Groucho joke routines, as Captain Spaulding recounting his African adventures for hostess Margaret Dumont and pompous are connoisseur Chandler (Louis Sorin), Harpo and Chico entering as the professor and Signor Ravelli, in the Paramount adaptation of the Marx Brothers stage hit, Animal Crackers, 1930.

Animal Crackers (1930) -- (Movie Clip) Hello, I Must Be Going Just introduced by his secretary (and little brother) Zeppo Marx, Groucho takes the stage as Captain Spaulding, African explorer invited to dazzle the guests of society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont), with the first song from the Marx Brothers' Broadway hit, by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar, in Animal Crackers, 1930.

Kentucky Kernels (1934) -- (Movie Clip) One Silly Little Habit Comedy teammates Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey (specs and cigar, playing a magician) are adopting, from Margaret Dumont, an orphan, for the depressed rich guy they've befriended, and it's troublesome Spanky McFarland, so they meet a cop (Edgar Dearing) too, early in Kentucky Kernels, 1934.

High Flyers (1937) -- (Movie Clip) You Need A Hobby Horace Opening with and RKO budget and aesthetic probably not suitable for MGM, a song by Dave Dreyer and Herman Ruby (the credited choreographer is Eduardo Cansino, Rita Hayworth's dad), introducing Jack Carson and Marjorie Lord, then Margaret Dumont and Paul Harvey, then third-billed Lupe Velez, in the Wheeler & Woolsey vehicle High Flyers, 1937.

Horn Blows At Midnight, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) Open, 3rd Trumpet Heavenly trappings in the opening title sequence and Jack Benny (as "Athanael") and Alexis Smith (as "Elizabeth") enduring life in a radio orchestra, from Raoul Walsh's The Horn Blows at Midnight, 1945.

Day At The Races, A (1937) -- (Movie Clip) I Proposed To Your Mother Horse doctor Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) enters as his rich patient Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) is hoping to intervene on behalf of sanitarium owner Judy (Maureen O’Sullivan), who’s being railroaded by her business manager Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley), early in A Day At The Races, 1937.

Night at the Opera, A (1935) -- (Movie Clip) State Dinner Driftwood (Groucho Marx) is working one scheme with Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) and Gottlieb (Sig Rumann) and another with Rosa (Kitty Carlisle) during a state dinner on the ship in A Night at the Opera, 1935.

Night at the Opera, A (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Otis B. Driftwood The opening scene introduces Groucho Marx as "Otis B. Driftwood," Margaret Dumont as his stood-up date "Mrs. Claypool," and Sig Rumann as the baffled impresario "Gottlieb" in A Night at the Opera, 1935.

Duck Soup (1933) -- (Movie Clip) A Rufus Over Your Head Now head of state in Freedonia, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) gets a lift (from brother Harpo) to the tea party hosted by the widow Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), who is financing his government, and bamboozles foreign rival Trentino (Louis Calhern), in Duck Soup, 1933.

Duck Soup (1933) -- (Movie Clip) His Excellency Is Due Zeppo Marx and Margaret Dumont start the song (by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar) but Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) makes his own entrance, whereupon she tells us why she’s wants him to lead the nation of Freedonia, which she’s financing, early in Duck Soup, 1933.

Duck Soup (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Mirror Pantomime None of the Marx Brothers (Groucho as Rufus T. Firefly, head of the nation of Freedonia and Harpo and Chico as spies sent to steal his war plans) knows that all of them are disguised as Groucho, thus the famous “mirror pantomime” sequence with the latter two, in Duck Soup, 1933.

Dramatic School (1938) -- (Movie Clip) Burning Love Of The Stage Opening scene as Margaret Dumont plays the instructor, students Fluery (Alan Marshall), Simone (Virginia Grey), Nana (Paulette Goddard) and sassy Mado (Lana Turner) all step forward, but it's really about Louise (Luise Rainer), in the MGM semi-ensemble melodrama Dramatic School, 1938.

Duck Soup - (Original Trailer) In Duck Soup (1933), their masterpiece and one of the greatest comedies of all time, The Marx Brothers take over the tiny nation of Freedonia.

Born to Sing - (Original Trailer) The Busby Berkeley-choreographed "Ballad For Americans" is a highlight of the MGM musical Born To Sing (1942).

About Face - (Original Trailer) Two army sergeants (William Tracy, Joe Sawyer) wreak havoc on leave in the Hal Roach comedy About Face (1942).

Horn Blows At Midnight, The - (Original Trailer) Jack Benny plays an angel sent to destroy the Earth with a trumpet blast in The Horn Blows At Midnight (1945).

Life of the Party, The -- (Original Trailer) A millionaire's heir and a countess' daughter take a roundabout way to get both love and money in The Life of the Party (1937).

Big Store, The - (Original Trailer) A detective and his zany pals take over a failing department store in The Big Store (1941), starring The Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont.

Day at the Races, A - (Original Trailer) The Marx Brothers try to save a pretty girl's sanitarium in A Day at the Races (1937).

Dramatic School - (Original Trailer) Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard and Lana Turner all go back to Dramatic School (1938).

Animal Crackers - (Original Trailer) The Four Marx Brothers reduce a Long Island mansion to chaos in the film version of their Broadway hit, Animal Crackers (1930).

Night at the Opera, A - (Re-issue Trailer) Three zanies turn an operatic performance into chaos in their efforts to promote their protege's romance with the leading lady in A Night at the Opera (1935), one of the Marx Brothers most popular films.

At The Circus - (Original Trailer) The Marx Brothers team up to keep a circus from going bankrupt while they are At the Circus (1939), co-starring Margaret Dumont.

Bathing Beauty - (Original Trailer) A songwriter enrolls in an all-girl school to court a pretty gym teacher in Bathing Beauty (1944), starring Red Skelton & Esther Williams.

Bibliography

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