Zeppo replaced brother Gummo in the Marx Brothers' stage act when the latter joined the army in 1918. The youngest brother objected to being likened to a chimpanzee and it was altered to "Zeppo." In a rare TV interview years later, Zeppo said that Zep is Italian-American slang for baby and as Zeppo was the youngest or baby Marx Brother, he was called Zeppo (BBC Archives). Zippo, and that "Herbie" was tagged with the name because he liked to do chin-ups and acrobatics like the chimp did in its act. His brother Harpo offered a different account in his 1961 autobiography, Harpo Speaks!, claiming there was a popular trained chimpanzee named Mr. Zeppo's ex-wife Barbara Sinatra repeated this in her 2011 book, Lady Blue Eyes: My Life with Frank. Name Īs with all of the Marx Brothers, different theories exist as to where Zeppo got his stage name: Groucho said in his Carnegie Hall concert in 1972 that the name was derived from the Zeppelin airship. His mother was from East Frisia in Germany and his father was a native of Alsace, France, and worked as a tailor. Minnie's brother was Al Shean, who later gained fame as half of the vaudeville team Gallagher and Shean. His parents were Sam Marx (called "Frenchie" throughout his life), and his wife, Minnie Schönberg Marx. Zeppo was born in Manhattan, New York City, on February 25, 1901.
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