Overview

This is the first full and properly researched biography of all five Marx Brothers - Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo. It features the first authentic account of their origins, of the roots of their comedy, and their twenty-four years on the stage prior to the shooting of their first movie, The Cocoanuts, in 1929. Never-before-published scripts, well-minted Marxian dialogue, and much madness and mayhem feature in this tale of the Brothers' battles with Hollywood, their loves and marriages, and the story of the forgotten brother Gummo, who never appeared on screen. Spicing up the anarchic brew are accounts of Salvador Dali's 'missing' script for Harpo, the true identity of the long-suffering Margaret Dumont, and the FBI's verdict on Groucho's particular brand of Marxism.

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9780571193509

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Reviews

Told with tremendous style and sparkle, Louvish's composite portrait of the Marx Brothers offers an indispensable overview of the actors' saga. - Publishers Weekly Mr. Louvish has written a well-researched and playful version of this hysterical history. - The Orlando Sentinel [The Marx Brothers are] well captured in Simon Louvish's zippy group portrait, Monkey Business , which ferrets out the facts behind the brothers' often murky accounts of their lives with a care that never interferes with the fun. - Elle Louvish is a . . . committed researcher and has come up with new material . . . [He] has interesting things to say about scripts versus finished films and fills in details [others] omit. - The New York Times Book Review

It's often the case that when celebrated people die, their names for a while disappear, their achievements denigrated. Not so with the Marx brothers - the immortal Groucho, Chico and Harpo continue to gambol across the screen not merely on late-night television, but in cinemas across the world. There have been many memoirs and books of reminiscence, but a really dependable biography is long overdue, and it is a bonus to get one which is not only enthusiastic and well-researched but admirably written. The author follows the brothers from a childhood in and around show business through the travails of establishing themselves in vaudeville and then in the movies. Their antics on and off stage (Groucho, as always, in the lead) disguised, of course, a deep seriousness in their approach to their profession. But it's the fun that draws us, and this book commemorates that with due respect. Essential reading - and not only for film buffs. (Kirkus UK)

Told with tremendous style and sparkle, Louvish's composite portrait of the Marx Brothers offers an indispensable overview of the actors' saga. — Publishers Weekly Mr. Louvish has written a well-researched and playful version of this hysterical history. — The Orlando Sentinel [The Marx Brothers are] well captured in Simon Louvish's zippy group portrait, Monkey Business , which ferrets out the facts behind the brothers' often murky accounts of their lives with a care that never interferes with the fun. — Elle Louvish is a . . . committed researcher and has come up with new material . . . [He] has interesting things to say about scripts versus finished films and fills in details [others] omit. — The New York Times Book Review

Author Information

Simon Louvish was born in Glasgow in 1947 and misspent his youth growing up in Israel between 1949 and 1968, including a stint as an army cameraman from 1965 to 1967. Having decamped to the London School of Film Technique in 1968, Simon became involved in the production of a series of independent documentary films about apartheid in South Africa, dictatorship in Greece, and general mayhem in Israel-Palestine from 1969 to 1973. He also published a memoir of his Israeli days entitled A Moment of Silence in 1979. Since 1985 Simon has published a series of novels set mainly in the Middle East, including the acclaimed Blok trilogy (The Therapy of Avram Blok, City of Blok and The Last Trump of Avram Blok). His most recent Middle East novel, The Days of Miracles and Wonders, was published in the UK in 1997 by Canongate. Since 1979, he has also been teaching film at the London International Film School and writing for various newspapers and magazines. Simon Louvish is the author of a trilogy of definitive biographies of the great clowns of screen comedy, including Man on the Flying Trapeze (1997), the story of W. C. Fields, Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers (1999), and Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy (2001), all published by Faber & Faber. Further film biographies include Keystone: The Life and Clowns of Mack Sennett(2003), Mae West: It Ain't No Sin (2005), and Cecil B. DeMille and The Golden Calf (2007).

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