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).
Known For
The Donna Reed Show
1958
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
Racket Squad
1951
A Day at the Races
1937
What a Way to Go!
1964
A Night at the Opera
1935
Duck Soup
1933
Auntie Mame
1958
Bathing Beauty
1944
At the Circus
1939
The Big Store
1941
Filmography
The Donna Reed Show
· 1958
The Colgate Comedy Hour
as Self · 1950
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
as Self · 1956
Racket Squad
· 1951
A Day at the Races
as Emily Upjohn · 1937
What a Way to Go!
as Mrs. Foster · 1964
A Night at the Opera
as Mrs. Claypool · 1935
Duck Soup
as Gloria Teasdale · 1933
Auntie Mame
as Noblewoman in Play (uncredited) · 1958
Bathing Beauty
as Mrs. Allenwood · 1944
At the Circus
as Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury · 1939
The Big Store
as Martha Phelps · 1941
The Cocoanuts
as Mrs. Potter · 1929
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage) · 1976
Animal Crackers
as Mrs. Rittenhouse · 1930
Tales of Manhattan
as Mme. Langehanke (uncredited) · 1942
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage) · 1975
The Horn Blows at Midnight
as Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder · 1945
Up in Arms
as Mrs. Willoughby · 1944
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage) · 1972
The Dancing Masters
as Louise Harlan · 1943
For Beauty's Sake
as Mrs. Franklin Evans · 1941
Little Giant
as Mrs. Hendrickson · 1946
Around the World with Nellie Bly
as Dowager #1 · 1960
Song and Dance Man
as Mrs. Whitney · 1936
The Life of the Party
as Mrs. Penner · 1937
Rendezvous
as Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited) · 1935
About Face
as Mrs. Culpepper · 1942
Stop, You're Killing Me
as Mrs. Whitelaw · 1952
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
as Mrs. Hemogloben · 1941
After Office Hours
as Mrs. Murchison (uncredited) · 1935
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
as Georgianna Fitzdingle · 1956
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
as (archive footage) · 1999
A Tale of Two Cities
as Aristocrat (uncredited) · 1917
Wise Girl
as Mrs. Bell-Rivington · 1937
Sunset in El Dorado
as Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella · 1945
Anything Goes
as Mrs. Wentworth · 1936
Sing Your Worries Away
as Flo Faulkner - Landlady · 1942
Three for Bedroom C
as Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne · 1952
Zotz!
as Persephone Updike · 1962
Reckless
as Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited) · 1935
The Girl Habit
as Blanche Ledyard · 1931
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
as (archive footage) · 1982
Diamond Horseshoe
as Mrs. Standish · 1945
Born to Sing
as Mrs. E. V. Lawson · 1942
Gridiron Flash
as Mrs. Fields · 1934
Susie Steps Out
as Mrs. Starr · 1946
Storm at Daybreak
as Duchess Sophie (uncredited) · 1933
Enemies of Women
as French Beauty · 1923
Youth on Parole
as Mrs. Abernathy · 1937
The Hollywood Clowns
as (archive footage) · 1979
Kentucky Kernels
as Mrs. Baxter · 1934
Seven Days Ashore
as Mrs. Croxton-Lynch · 1944
High Flyers
as Martha Arlington · 1937
Dramatic School
as Pantomime Teacher · 1938
Fifteen Wives
as Sybilla Crum · 1934
Rhythm Parade
as Ophelia MacDougal · 1942
Wonderland of California
as Self · 1933
Arbor Day
as Woman Outside (uncredited) · 1936
Gypsy Sweetheart
as Mrs. Van Updyke · 1935
Here, Prince
as The Queen of Deleria (uncredited) · 1932