In Praise of Zeppo and Shemp

When you think of the Marx Brothers, you likely think of Groucho’s wisecracks, Harpo’s sight gags, and even Chico’s piano specialties. You don’t think about their brother Zeppo.

- STEVEN KURTZ

When you think of the Three Stooges, you likely think of three guys slapping and poking each other: Moe, Larry, and Curly. Not Curly’s replacement, Shemp (and certainly not later replacements Joe Besser and Joe DeRita).

Show biz has few stars but plenty of also-rans. And as if fate ordered it, two new biographies published within two weeks of each other—Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother, by Robert S. Bader, and Shemp!, by Burt Kearns—tell the stories of Zeppo Marx and Shemp Howard, unsung members of famous comedy teams. What a time to be alive.

Zeppo is the dullest Marx brother on screen, but his personal story may be the most remarkable. (Not least because of how he got his name, due to his alleged resemblance to circus freak Zip the Pinhead. Zip, Zippo, Zeppo!) Born Herbert Marx in 1901, Zeppo was the baby of the group: Older brothers Leonard (Chico), Arthur (Harpo), and Julius (Groucho) were born in 1887, 1888, and 1890, respectively. By the time Zeppo was a teenager, the Four Marx Brothers—the fourth was not Zeppo but another brother, Milton, a.k.a. Gummo—had a solid reputation in vaudeville.

Growing up, Zeppo was a street hooligan. If his mother hadn’t tossed him onstage in 1914, he might have ended up in prison like some of his friends. He performed in a sextet without his siblings, then joined the Four Marx Brothers when Gummo joined the army during World War I.

Zeppo turned out to be considerably more talented than Gummo. Indeed, at one point he filled in for the ailing Groucho—mustache, eyebrows, glasses, and all—without the audience being any the wiser. Unlike his brothers, who had a decade’s head start, he never managed to develop a memorable comic character. Yet by all accounts he was the funniest brother in person. I guess the others saved it for the stage.