And even though there were four little kids there, there was a peacefulness there that wasn’t at my home at all. So when things got really rough I would get on my bicycle and ride over to Harpo’s house. There were a lot of silent moments because somebody was angry, like my father at my mother because she was drinking. “I’ll tell you the truth, life at home was not all that easy. “They had totally different lives,” she said. Harpo and his wife and their four adopted children lived only six blocks away and Allen spent a lot of time at Uncle Harpo’s. Of his four brothers (Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo), Groucho was closest to Harpo, whom he talked to almost every day on the phone. “Her idea of a good time was dancing, drinking and the high life-what they used to call the gay life.”īecause of the Marx Brothers’ exalted position in Hollywood, most of Groucho’s friends were famous writers, producers, directors and song writers-anything but actors. “My mother was an alcoholic and she never got into recovery,” said Allen. But he liked to stay home and read and listen to good music.”Īllen’s mother, Ruth, had different ideas about how to spend an evening. He’d call the theater and say, ‘Can you smoke in the balcony?’ and if you couldn’t, forget it. He did like to go to the movies-if he could smoke in the balcony. “If he had his way he’d never go out for the evening. “If he had a swimming pool people would always be hanging around, and he didn’t want them hanging around.”Īllen said her father enjoyed his privacy. “My father said he wouldn’t have a swimming pool,” said Allen. Although the house included two maids’ rooms and a large back yard, the home lacked the requisite swimming pool. They moved to Hollywood in 1931 when the Marx Brothers signed to make movies at Paramount.Īfter living in several rented homes, the family moved into a two-story ranch-style house in Beverly Hills. When Miriam Marx was born in 1927, Groucho Marx was appearing on Broadway and the family was living in a house in Great Neck, Long Island. But a loving father and one that I knew loved me and that I could depend on.” ”Īllen makes it clear from the outset that “Love and Kisses, Padre” will be no “Daddy Dearest.” She loved her father, she says, but that doesn’t mean he was perfect. If you were going up, it is clearly a case of love at first sight and it also proves that he is a rising young man. On Miriam’s dating a man named John, whom she met on an elevator (1947): “Was the elevator going up at the time, or down? This is very important, for going down in an elevator one always has that sinking feeling and for all I know you may have this confused with love. Don’t be surprised, but I think your old man has finally arrived in radio.” I just don’t understand it, but apparently the quality of ad libbing on the air is so low that if anyone comes along with even a moderately fresh note he’s considered practically a genius. Doing “You Bet Your Life” on radio (1948): “As you know, I was embarrassed about doing a quiz show, for it is considered the lowest form of radio life, but all of my friends, the ones who make big salaries and listen to Information Please and other erudite programs, are nuts about this. if you see him around the house, kiss him for me.” I have never been attached to a dog like I am to this one. My Groucho old boy, you are my man, that’s the first time he had ever called me Groucho, and believe me I was thrilled to my finger tips, he usually called me Julius, and to hear him saying Groucho affected me deeply. He said, I like Miriam, she is a nice kid, and occasionally brushes my coat and throws me a bone, but to compare her to you is sheer folly. I said, Duke who do you belong to? Miriam or me? He looked up at me and winked. The family dog, Duke (1941): “How are you and my dog Duke? You apparently think Duke belongs to you don’t you? Well I had it out with Duke one day when we were together on the bike. Show business (1941): “This is a tough racket, and all the heartaches and sleepless nights make it a pretty thankless profession, unless of course you are one of the lucky few who put over a hit, and then, everything looks different, and all the anxious moments are forgotten.” Excerpts from the letters-misspellings and grammatical errors intact-illustrate what Allen calls, Groucho “the father, the caring man, the human being.”
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