Biography
Zeppo Marx — comedian with roots in the Russian Empire
Zeppo Marx (born Herbert Manfred Marx) was the youngest of the five Marx Brothers who appeared in films — the 'straight man' in a family of anarchic comedians. He left performing to become a successful engineer and businessman, inventing a cardiac monitor wristwatch.
Russian Connection
Tracing the roots — USA
His parents were Sam 'Frenchie' Marx, whose family came from Alsace (on the French-German border), and Minnie Schoenberg, whose family came from Germany and the Russian Empire. The Marx Brothers — Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo — were the product of this immigrant German-Russian Jewish household, and their anarchic comedy was the immigrant generation's laughter at American pretension.
Family Tree
Subject
Zeppo Marx🇺🇸 USA
↑
Mother
Minnie Schoenberg
↑
Origin
USA🇷🇺
Key Achievements
A career defined by ambition
01
Marx Brothers films — The Cocoanuts (1929) through Duck Soup (1933)
02
Left performing to become an engineer and businessman
03
Invented the Marman clamp — used to hold the atomic bombs in WWII aircraft
04
Patented a cardiac monitor wristwatch (1969)
05
Youngest of the five performing Marx Brothers
Sources