Margaret Dumont
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).
61 acting credits
Acting · 61
The Donna Reed Show
1958
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
Racket Squad
1951
Auntie Mame
1958
Duck Soup
1933
What a Way to Go!
1964
A Night at the Opera
1935
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
Tales of Manhattan
1942
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
At the Circus
1939
Bathing Beauty
1944
A Day at the Races
1937
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
The Big Store
1941
Reckless
1935
Rendezvous
1935
Animal Crackers
1930
Zotz!
1962
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
1982
The Dancing Masters
1943
High Flyers
1937
The Cocoanuts
1929
The Hollywood Clowns
1979
Sunset in El Dorado
1945
About Face
1942
Anything Goes
1936
Kentucky Kernels
1934
Fifteen Wives
1934
Little Giant
1946
After Office Hours
1935
Enemies of Women
1923
Wise Girl
1937
Dramatic School
1938
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
1941
The Life of the Party
1937
Arbor Day
1936
Gridiron Flash
1934
The Horn Blows at Midnight
1945
Sing Your Worries Away
1942
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
1999
Youth on Parole
1937
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
1956
Storm at Daybreak
1933
Born to Sing
1942
Stop, You're Killing Me
1952
Up in Arms
1944
Diamond Horseshoe
1945
For Beauty's Sake
1941
Rhythm Parade
1942
A Tale of Two Cities
1917
Seven Days Ashore
1944
Song and Dance Man
1936
Gypsy Sweetheart
1935
Susie Steps Out
1946
The Girl Habit
1931
Around the World with Nellie Bly
1960
Three for Bedroom C
1952
Wonderland of California
1933
Here, Prince
1932