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

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

Racket Squad

Duck Soup

Auntie Mame

A Night at the Opera

The Big Store

All Movies (57)

• Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults1999 · as (archive footage)
• The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell1982 · as (archive footage)
• The Hollywood Clowns1979 · as (archive footage)
• That's Entertainment, Part II1976 · as (archive footage)
• Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?1975 · as Self (archive footage)
• Hollywood: The Dream Factory1972 · as Self (archive footage)
• What a Way to Go!1964 · as Mrs. Foster
• Zotz!1962 · as Persephone Updike
• Around the World with Nellie Bly1960 · as Dowager #1
• Auntie Mame1958 · as Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
• Shake, Rattle and Rock!1956 · as Georgianna Fitzdingle
• Stop, You're Killing Me1952 · as Mrs. Whitelaw
• Three for Bedroom C1952 · as Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
• Susie Steps Out1946 · as Mrs. Starr
• Little Giant1946 · as Mrs. Hendrickson
• Sunset in El Dorado1945 · as Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
• Diamond Horseshoe1945 · as Mrs. Standish
• The Horn Blows at Midnight1945 · as Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
• Bathing Beauty1944 · as Mrs. Allenwood
• Seven Days Ashore1944 · as Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
• Up in Arms1944 · as Mrs. Willoughby
• The Dancing Masters1943 · as Louise Harlan
• Rhythm Parade1942 · as Ophelia MacDougal
• Tales of Manhattan1942 · as Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
• About Face1942 · as Mrs. Culpepper
• Sing Your Worries Away1942 · as Flo Faulkner - Landlady
• Born to Sing1942 · as Mrs. E. V. Lawson
• Never Give a Sucker an Even Break1941 · as Mrs. Hemogloben
• The Big Store1941 · as Martha Phelps
• For Beauty's Sake1941 · as Mrs. Franklin Evans
• At the Circus1939 · as Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
• Dramatic School1938 · as Pantomime Teacher
• Wise Girl1937 · as Mrs. Bell-Rivington
• High Flyers1937 · as Martha Arlington
• Youth on Parole1937 · as Mrs. Abernathy
• The Life of the Party1937 · as Mrs. Penner
• A Day at the Races1937 · as Emily Upjohn
• Arbor Day1936 · as Woman Outside (uncredited)
• Song and Dance Man1936 · as Mrs. Whitney
• Anything Goes1936 · as Mrs. Wentworth
• A Night at the Opera1935 · as Mrs. Claypool
• Rendezvous1935 · as Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)
• Reckless1935 · as Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)
• Gypsy Sweetheart1935 · as Mrs. Van Updyke
• After Office Hours1935 · as Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)
• Kentucky Kernels1934 · as Mrs. Baxter
• Gridiron Flash1934 · as Mrs. Fields
• Fifteen Wives1934 · as Sybilla Crum
• Duck Soup1933 · as Gloria Teasdale
• Storm at Daybreak1933 · as Duchess Sophie (uncredited)
• Wonderland of California1933 · as Self
• Here, Prince1932 · as The Queen of Deleria (uncredited)
• The Girl Habit1931 · as Blanche Ledyard
• Animal Crackers1930 · as Mrs. Rittenhouse
• The Cocoanuts1929 · as Mrs. Potter
• Enemies of Women1923 · as French Beauty
• A Tale of Two Cities1917 · as Aristocrat (uncredited)

All TV Shows (4)

• The Donna Reed Show1958
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show1956 · as Self
• Racket Squad1951
• The Colgate Comedy Hour1950 · as Self