I was always a Marx Brother's fan from the time I was young in the 60s. I remember watching all their films in black and white. A lot of my friends were Three Stooges fans, and I have a real appreciation for the Three Stooges, but honestly, television was saturated with them. They had a television series versus Marx Brother's movies, which were... well, movies. The way I saw it, The Three Stooges were great physical comedians. The Marx Brothers were great cerebral comedians.

I always had an affinity for Chico. The character of Epstein from "Welcome Back, Kotter," was modelled after Chico... the wheeler-dealer, skirt chasing, scam artist. In general, I was always able to relate to them culturally as well. They were immigrant Jews, and I was an immigrant Italian. Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo were intellectuals. Their mother was such a powerful force in their life, as my mother was... she (Minnie) was their first manager. They all played the piano and took music lessons, and they were all juvenile delinquents; I could definitely relate.

Sometimes on Broadway, they would exchange roles. Chico would play Groucho if he didn't want to go on. They were nicknamed on a train while on tour in the thirties. Groucho was nicknamed Groucho because he was such a grouchy guy. Chic-o was always chasing babes. That's why he was named Chico. (Like chick-o, not chico). Harpo was a brilliant harp player (he also worked for the CIA during World War II). Zeppo was named Zeppo because he always used Zippo lighters. Gummo wore gum shoes. Gummo fell out of the act to get married. After the Paramount contract was completed, Zeppo stopped performing and became their agent. I could go on, and on, and on about their history, but let's get on to my tour...

©2005 Robert Hegyes - All Rights Reserved