Recent comments in /f/OldSchoolCool

isecore t1_ja7lwr3 wrote

Reply to comment by iamsce in The Marx Brothers mixing drinks at The Savoy Hotel in London in 1931. Left To Right: Zeppo, Harpo, Chico, and Groucho. by spodinielri0

Technically they're nicknames which became stage-names. Groucho was nicknamed that because he was often in charge of the "grouch bag" i.e. he took care of the money when they were doing vaudeville. Chicos nickname originates from often playing womanizing characters, i.e. Chicks. Harpos nickname comes from his obsession with playing the harp. There are at least two (unconfirmed) theories for Zeppos nickname, it was either derived from the word "Zeppelin" or from imitating a monkey named Mr Zippo.

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Rob_T_Firefly t1_ja7kt8z wrote

Reply to comment by iamsce in The Marx Brothers mixing drinks at The Savoy Hotel in London in 1931. Left To Right: Zeppo, Harpo, Chico, and Groucho. by spodinielri0

Those are their stage names which stuck, they had standard names given them by their parents.

Groucho was born Julius, Chico was born Leonard, Zeppo was Herbert, and Harpo was born Adolph (which he later decided to change to Arthur.) Not seen in this photo is fifth Marx Brother Gummo, born Milton, who had left the act before they made the jump from Vaudeville to film.

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