Margaret Dumont (October 20, 1882 â€" March 6, 1965)[a] was an
American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic
foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films. Groucho Marx called
her "practically the fifth Marx brother".[b]Dumont was born Daisy
Juliette Baker in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of William and
Harriet Anna (née Harvey) Baker. She spent many years of her
childhood being raised by her godfather, Joel Chandler Harris at his
home, Wren's Nest in Atlanta before returning to New York as a
teenager.Dumont trained as an operatic singer and actress in her
teens, and began performing on stage in the U.S. and in Europe, at
first under the name Daisy Dumont and later as Margaret (or
Marguerite) Dumont. Her theatrical debut was in Sleeping Beauty and
the Beast at the Chestnut Theater in Philadelphia, and in August 1902,
two months before her 20th birthday, she appeared as a singer/comedian
in a vaudeville act in Atlantic City. The dark-haired soubrette,
described by a theater reviewer as a "statuesque beauty", attracted
notice later that decade for her vocal and comedic talents in The Girl
Behind the Counter (1908), The Belle of Brittany (1909) and The Summer
Widower (1910).
American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic
foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films. Groucho Marx called
her "practically the fifth Marx brother".[b]Dumont was born Daisy
Juliette Baker in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of William and
Harriet Anna (née Harvey) Baker. She spent many years of her
childhood being raised by her godfather, Joel Chandler Harris at his
home, Wren's Nest in Atlanta before returning to New York as a
teenager.Dumont trained as an operatic singer and actress in her
teens, and began performing on stage in the U.S. and in Europe, at
first under the name Daisy Dumont and later as Margaret (or
Marguerite) Dumont. Her theatrical debut was in Sleeping Beauty and
the Beast at the Chestnut Theater in Philadelphia, and in August 1902,
two months before her 20th birthday, she appeared as a singer/comedian
in a vaudeville act in Atlantic City. The dark-haired soubrette,
described by a theater reviewer as a "statuesque beauty", attracted
notice later that decade for her vocal and comedic talents in The Girl
Behind the Counter (1908), The Belle of Brittany (1909) and The Summer
Widower (1910).
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