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Groucho the Pixie BossessQuiz That Needs No FixingBy BOB THOMASHOLLYWOOD MPj—Groucho Marx at 64 is crackling into his 10th year as a TV quizmaster at a time when most quiz shows have crumbled in disrepute,How does the old boy do it?‘.'Ours isn’t a quiz; it’s a comedy show,” he explains. “And we've never been rigged”He. offers this as evidence: flt;We had two medal of honor winners on the show, and they didn’t win a cent. Jockey (Billy) Pearson was a loser.We had a family of 19 who couldn’t win.”Contestants in the regular cjuiz can earn as much as $1,200; none has. The average is S350. Winners of more than $500 can compete for the grand prize. The maximum of 510,000 was reached only once.”We raised the ante to $10,000 when the other shows were giving away hundreds of thousands,” Groucho say s. ‘Tm sorry we did. Money isn't important to our show.” Groucho is.His nimble wit, his irreverence, his ability to cut through sham and pomposity arc the moat of the show.*HOW DOES HE characterize his own humor?It's filthy/1 he says in a typical reply. More seriously, he adds: “I guess it might be considered rebellious.”Those who wish to analyze this rebel can study his autobiography, Groucho and Me.” Jt offers a picture of a youth in crummy hotel rooms and lice-ridden theaters, Final-, ly the Marx brothers climbedj into the bigtime and starred| brilliantly on Broadway and in Hollywood.Groucho was always the leader in the Marx plots. Itj was he who sponsored theirTEE-HEF FOR TWOSondi Sodsai (Miss Thailand of 1D58) giggles through a jig with Groucho Marx on his television show, You Bet Your Life.’’—(AP photo.)wild schemes, who deflated dignity, usually in the form of the bounteous dowager, Margaret Dumont.However, Groucho found himself without an audience after World War II. The Marx brothers movies had run their course. Groucho's ventures as a single in movies and radioj fiopped. Then one of those brilliant show business accidents happened.Bob Hope was largely responsible/’ Groucho recalls. I was doing a big, all-starradio show with him. He dropped a couple of pages of script while we were on the air. so J threw away the whole script, We ad libbed the rest of the show, and the audience roared.John Guedel was in the wings. When I came offstage, John asked if I'd like to do a quiz show.”Groucho was embarrassed to do a quiz show after his years as a starring comedian, but nothing else was in sight for him. The show was packaged and snapped up at a bargain $5,000 a week by a sponsor who couldn't afford a stiff price asked by Phil Daker.* * * *AFTER 13 YEARS with the show on r a d i o and TV, Groucho's work habits have reached a definite pattern. At 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, he leaves the Beverly Hills mansion where he lives with his young wife Eden and daughter Melinda. He arrives at the NBC Sunset and Vine studios at 6 and goes over the categories with the program producer. At 6:45, he walks half a block to the Brown Derby for dinner, returning to the studio at 7:45.He dons makeup and is onstage at 8:15, when he meets the contestants for the first time. They have been screened by Producer G tied el's staff, and Groucho is given a few notes about areas that might provide humor. But most of the laughter arises out ofGroucbo's poking and prod-ding of the contestants.The filming is over by 9:30, end Groucho is free of his duties for another week.“I still enjoy the show/’ lie remarks. JtTs always a challenge—a batile of wits, or half-wils, perhaps.This kind of schedule allows me to dn the things i •like to do, such as reading, listening to symphony music and watching some of thebetter shows nn TV. At mv- *age, I enjoy not doing the things I don’t like to do, such as making movies and doing guest shots on TV. I’m inhibited by scripts. The only time I’m at my best is when I'm myself.”The continuer! high ratings ; for the show indicate that the public wants him to go nn playing his favorite role—as Groucho Marx.
Newspaper Details
Independent Press Telegram
Long Beach, California, US
Sun, Dec 27, 1959
Page 74
Full Page
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California, DZ 26 May 2023
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