Zeppo Marx was a complex character who escaped the family business to become a Hollywood talent agent, racehorse breeder, manufacturing plant owner, citrus rancher, commercial fisherman, and inventor. His life was filled with gambling, relationships with organized crime figures, and appearances before grand juries. This book provides a lively account of his life and career, with first-ever interviews with his two sons.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 15 December 2024
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press

Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the life and career of Zeppo Marx.

Marx Brothers authority Bader has done a remarkable job successfully uncovering the story of the unknown brother,revealing a genuinely complex character. This book is revelatory not just about Zeppo but also about the rest of the Marx Brothers.

Zeppo was the Marx Brother who didnt want to go into the family business. A juvenile delinquent in his teen years,before joining his brothers on stage,Zeppo balanced two careers: auto mechanic and petty criminal. Even after getting dragged into the world of entertainment—for sixteen years,he did his familial duty as a vaudeville,Broadway,and movie star—he finally made his escape from the Four Marx Brothers. After failed attempts to find steady work in real estate,screenwriting,and the restaurant business,Zeppo finally hit it big as a Hollywood talent agent,representing stars like Barbara Stanwyck,Fred MacMurray,and Lana Turner. From there,he bred racehorses,owned a manufacturing plant,tried out citrus ranching and commercial fishing,and patented several new inventions. He was,in short,a complex character,and his own family never quite figured him out. Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother gives a lively account of this checkered life and career. As Robert Bader recounts,Zeppos lifelong addiction to gambling led him into relationships with several notorious organized crime figures,and he would ultimately appear before grand juries more frequently than movie cameras. (He was certainly the only Marx Brother who saw the corpse of a friend in a newspaper crime scene photo.) Socially,he mixed as easily with mobsters like Mickey Cohen as he did with movie stars like Clark Gable. Comprehensively researched with the full cooperation of Zeppos estate,including the first-ever interviews with his two s.

Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the life and career of Zeppo Marx.

Weight: 644g
Dimension: 236 x 159 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781493087969