Margaret Dumont
Acting • Born 1882-10-19 – Died 1965-03-06
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).
Filmography
60 credits
Duck Soup
Movie • 1933
Gloria Teasdale
The Cocoanuts
Movie • 1929
Mrs. Potter
At the Circus
Movie • 1939
Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
A Day at the Races
Movie • 1937
Emily Upjohn
The Big Store
Movie • 1941
Martha Phelps
The Hollywood Clowns
Movie • 1979
(archive footage)
Animal Crackers
Movie • 1930
Mrs. Rittenhouse
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Movie • 1941
Mrs. Hemogloben
Little Giant
Movie • 1946
Mrs. Hendrickson
Bathing Beauty
Movie • 1944
Mrs. Allenwood
A Night at the Opera
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Claypool
The Horn Blows at Midnight
Movie • 1945
Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
The Dancing Masters
Movie • 1943
Louise Harlan
Stop, You're Killing Me
Movie • 1952
Mrs. Whitelaw
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
Movie • 1982
(archive footage)
Rendezvous
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)
Diamond Horseshoe
Movie • 1945
Mrs. Standish
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
About Face
Movie • 1942
Mrs. Culpepper
Up in Arms
Movie • 1944
Mrs. Willoughby
Wise Girl
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Bell-Rivington
Anything Goes
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Wentworth
Dramatic School
Movie • 1938
Pantomime Teacher
Three for Bedroom C
Movie • 1952
Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
Youth on Parole
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Abernathy
Gridiron Flash
Movie • 1934
Mrs. Fields
Reckless
Movie • 1935
Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)
Fifteen Wives
Movie • 1934
Sybilla Crum
Sing Your Worries Away
Movie • 1942
Flo Faulkner - Landlady
High Flyers
Movie • 1937
Martha Arlington
Seven Days Ashore
Movie • 1944
Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
The Life of the Party
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Penner
Born to Sing
Movie • 1942
Mrs. E. V. Lawson
What a Way to Go!
Movie • 1964
Mrs. Foster
Storm at Daybreak
Movie • 1933
Duchess Sophie (uncredited)
Zotz!
Movie • 1962
Persephone Updike
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
Movie • 1956
Georgianna Fitzdingle
Wonderland of California
Movie • 1933
Self
After Office Hours
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)
Song and Dance Man
Movie • 1936
Mrs. Whitney
Kentucky Kernels
Movie • 1934
Mrs. Baxter
Rhythm Parade
Movie • 1942
Ophelia MacDougal
Here, Prince
Movie • 1932
The Queen of Deleria (uncredited)
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Movie • 1999
(archive footage)
Gypsy Sweetheart
Movie • 1935
Mrs. Van Updyke
Sunset in El Dorado
Movie • 1945
Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
Tales of Manhattan
Movie • 1942
Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie • 1975
Self (archive footage)
A Tale of Two Cities
Movie • 1917
Aristocrat (uncredited)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie • 1976
(archive footage)
For Beauty's Sake
Movie • 1941
Mrs. Franklin Evans
Auntie Mame
Movie • 1958
Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
The Girl Habit
Movie • 1931
Blanche Ledyard
Arbor Day
Movie • 1936
Woman Outside (uncredited)
Enemies of Women
Movie • 1923
French Beauty
Around the World with Nellie Bly
Movie • 1960
Dowager #1
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
The Donna Reed Show
TV • 1958
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
Racket Squad
TV • 1951