Margaret Dumont
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).
Known For
Credits
- 2002 · Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults as Self (archiveFootage)
- 1982 · The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell as (archive footage)
- 1979 · The Hollywood Clowns as (archive footage)
- 1976 · That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
- 1975 · Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? as Self (archive footage)
- 1972 · Hollywood: The Dream Factory as Self (archive footage)
- 1964 · What a Way to Go! as Mrs. Foster
- 1962 · Zotz! as Persephone Updike
- 1958 · Auntie Mame as Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
- 1958 · The Donna Reed Show as
- 1956 · Shake, Rattle and Rock! as Georgianna Fitzdingle
- 1956 · The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
- 1952 · Stop, You're Killing Me as Mrs. Whitelaw
- 1952 · Three for Bedroom C as Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
- 1951 · Racket Squad as
- 1950 · The Colgate Comedy Hour as Self
- 1946 · Little Giant as Mrs. Hendrickson
- 1945 · Sunset in El Dorado as Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
- 1945 · Diamond Horseshoe as Mrs. Standish
- 1945 · The Horn Blows at Midnight as Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
- 1944 · Bathing Beauty as Mrs. Allenwood
- 1944 · Seven Days Ashore as Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
- 1944 · Up in Arms as Mrs. Willoughby
- 1943 · The Dancing Masters as Louise Harlan
- 1942 · Rhythm Parade as Ophelia MacDougal
- 1942 · Tales of Manhattan as Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
- 1942 · About Face as Mrs. Culpepper
- 1942 · Sing Your Worries Away as Flo Faulkner - Landlady
- 1942 · Born to Sing as Mrs. E. V. Lawson
- 1941 · Never Give a Sucker an Even Break as Mrs. Hemogloben
- 1941 · The Big Store as Martha Phelps
- 1941 · For Beauty's Sake as Mrs. Franklin Evans
- 1939 · At the Circus as Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
- 1938 · Dramatic School as Pantomime Teacher
- 1937 · Wise Girl as Mrs. Bell-Rivington
- 1937 · High Flyers as Martha Arlington
- 1937 · Youth on Parole as Mrs. Abernathy
- 1937 · The Life of the Party as Mrs. Penner
- 1937 · A Day at the Races as Emily Upjohn
- 1936 · Song and Dance Man as Mrs. Whitney
- 1936 · Anything Goes as Mrs. Wentworth
- 1935 · A Night at the Opera as Mrs. Claypool
- 1935 · Rendezvous as Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)
- 1935 · Reckless as Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)
- 1935 · Gypsy Sweetheart as Mrs. Van Updyke
- 1935 · After Office Hours as Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)
- 1934 · Kentucky Kernels as Mrs. Baxter
- 1934 · Gridiron Flash as Mrs. Fields
- 1934 · Fifteen Wives as Sybilla Crum
- 1934 · We're Rich Again as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
- 1933 · Duck Soup as Gloria Teasdale
- 1933 · Storm at Daybreak as Duchess Sophie (uncredited)
- 1933 · Wonderland of California as Self
- 1932 · Here, Prince as The Queen of Deleria (uncredited)
- 1931 · The Girl Habit as Blanche Ledyard
- 1930 · Animal Crackers as Mrs. Rittenhouse
- 1929 · The Cocoanuts as Mrs. Potter
- 1917 · A Tale of Two Cities as Aristocrat (uncredited)