Margaret Dumont
Biography
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).
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (46)
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
as (archive footage)
1999
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
as (archive footage)
1982
The Hollywood Clowns
as (archive footage)
1979
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
1975
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage)
1972
What a Way to Go!
as Mrs. Foster
1964
Zotz!
as Persephone Updike
1962
Around the World with Nellie Bly
as Dowager #1
1960
Auntie Mame
as Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
1958
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
as Georgianna Fitzdingle
1956
Stop, You're Killing Me
as Mrs. Whitelaw
1952
Three for Bedroom C
as Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
1952
Little Giant
as Mrs. Hendrickson
1946
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
1945
Bathing Beauty
as Mrs. Allenwood
1944
Seven Days Ashore
as Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
1944
Up in Arms
as Mrs. Willoughby
1944
The Dancing Masters
as Louise Harlan
1943
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
1942
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
1941
At the Circus
as Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
1939
Dramatic School
as Pantomime Teacher
1938
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
1937
Arbor Day
as Woman Outside (uncredited)
1936
Song and Dance Man
as Mrs. Whitney
1936
Anything Goes
as Mrs. Wentworth
1936
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)
1935
Kentucky Kernels
as Mrs. Baxter
1934
Gridiron Flash
as Mrs. Fields
1934
