Steve Stoliar wrote this book about being a student at UCLA and working at Groucho Marx’s house starting in 1974. This book is not about the peak years of The Marx Brothers or Groucho…just the opposite. It’s the decline of Groucho Marx’s health and his eventual death.
Steve was in UCLA heading up a petition to get “Animal Crackers” released again to theaters for which he was successful. The Marx Brothers popularity was on the rise again. Groucho traveled to the campus to help out. Groucho’s PA Erin Fleming eventually hired Steve as a secretary and archivist. Steve worked in Groucho’s house for a little over 3 years. He was a huge fan not only of Groucho but of old Hollywood.
The number of famous people who passed through Groucho’s house was incredible. Old Hollywood stars and also new ones at the time. Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Bud Cort (Harold and Maude), Alice Cooper, Dick Cavett, Woody Allen, Mae West, Queen (they are not in the book though), and many writers from the early days of motion pictures.
The sad part of this story is Erin Flemming (no relation to Harpo’s wife Susan Flemming). She was mentally unstable and both helped Groucho and hurt him. She would scream, berate, and push Groucho to make appearances he had no business doing in his condition. She convinced Groucho that his kids were terrible and she actually tried to get him to adopt her as his daughter. She would fire people for any reason and be very unpredictable.
After Groucho passed on it took years before the court case between Erin and Groucho’s son Arthur Marx to settle. Erin ended up losing and she was in and out of mental hospitals and wandering the LA streets for the rest of her life.
Steve slowly builds a friendship with Groucho and many of the celebrities who pass through the house. Steve didn’t seem to embellish anything in the book. There are only a couple of celebrities he said anything bad about. One was Barbara Streisand…which I totally can see after hearing other stories about her.
As a matter of fact, there’s really only one time that I can recall being officially snubbed at Groucho’s house. It was when Elliott Gould arranged for his ex-wife, Barbra Streisand, to come with him one Sunday afternoon along with their young son, Jason. Streisand never made eye contact with me the whole time she was there nor acknowledged my presence in the room even when I was speaking. It was as though I didn’t exist. Others spoke to me and Streisand made comments to the people around me, but to her I was, apparently, invisible.
Groucho had a number of mini-strokes and year by year he worsened. He would have good days and bad ones but he never lost his wit. Steve was/is a true fan. He relished working there with his hero. Imagine being nineteen years old and working for a celebrity you really admire. That would have been like me working for John Lennon (or Groucho)…which would have been incredible.
Groucho’s health was fine until around 1972 when he had his first stroke. That is when he started to really age. In the early seventies, he would appear on talk shows with his quick wit and singing songs. After the stroke, you could tell a difference.
Steve was there until the very end and ended up as a television writer and a cartoon voiceover actor.
This is a very interesting book. I will say again that Steve is about as fair as you can get retelling stories. Groucho’s daughters would go on to say that he was very truthful. Some say he was too easy on Erin and some said he was too hard on her… I would say it’s only for Groucho fans but you get a lot of Marx Brothers stories and some information about old Hollywood.
Steve and Groucho
Rob Zombie wants to make a movie out of this book. That kind of takes me by surprise…not that a movie could be made…but that Rob Zombie wants to do it.
https://1428elm.com/2018/06/16/waiting-for-groucho-marxs-raised-eyebrows-from-rob-zombie/
As it just so happens, in an interview Zombie mentioned that his favorite book was Raised Eyebrows written by Groucho’s former assistant, Steve Stoliar. It details the last years of the comedian’s life through Stoliar’s eyes.
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Will definitely check it out. Reposted on twitter @trefology
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Thank you! You feel like you are with him working at Groucho’s house. Steve is so sincere that you can’t help but like the guy and you feel his excitement of getting to work there.
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Wow! This sounds like an excellent book! That surprises me too about Rob Zombie. Then again, I am often surprised by some people who put on a certain look or act but are actually very decent people. Thinking of Alice Cooper, Gene Simmons, Lady Gaga, etc. I always wondered about Babs Streisand and now we know.
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Alice Cooper really is…I’ve read and I’ve seen his interviews…he is also a huge christian which surprised me.
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Exactly. Friend of mine, previous head of HR where I worked, met him and his wife (who is the nurse character in his shows). She (my friend) is a born again Christian and I about fell over when she and her musician boyfriend went to an Alice Cooper concert and was telling me how they went backstage, met, and talked with them for quite a while!
She was so ecstatic!
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He really does seem like a genuine guy….I’m glad to hear your story. I can only imagine the stories that man could tell.
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sounds interesting. I’m glad Groucho was a decent guy in real life, too bad he didn’t see what Erin was like to everybody else. Queen there? That’s odd! As for Babs… his report doesn’t surprise me , and I’ve heard others say similar things so it might well be true, but I also read one dissenting opinion recently from someone who got hired to DJ a private party for her and her son … he says she was extraordinarily friendly and thoughtful (and told him DON’T play any of my music!) , so who knows? Maybe a good days/bad days type thing with her
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Whats weird is…I was watching Adam 12 the other night (yea it’s a time warp at my house) and in one segment…here comes Erin Flemming on the screen. She was in a few movies because of Groucho and some TV shows….again because of Groucho.
YES…Queen loved the Marx Brothers…two of their albums were named after Marx Brother movies…A night at the opera and Day At The Races…so they loved Groucho. He was an A lister in the early seventies.
Or maybe she has matured a little bit in recent years as well.
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I hadn’t thought of that, but yes, the album titles do suggest they were fans!
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Oh yes….they all wanted to meet Groucho…hell EVERYONE at that time wanted to meet him and to get insulted by him…thats true…people would come up to him and wanted to get insulted…just to say they were insulted by Groucho. He had a comedy album out and their movies were hitting again….college kids lined up around the block to see Animal Crackers…because that comedy is very anti-establishment.
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That’s a great read. I hope the movie comes to fruition
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I do also!
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I’m ashamed to say that I never got into Groucho. I’ve seen Duck Soup, which I liked, but not enough to explore the Marx Brothers. I think it was from my experience watching reruns of You Bet Your Life with my babysitter. She loved Groucho, but I was too young to get his humor.
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It does depend on what kind of humor you like. I like irrelevant humor and that was them and him in a nutshell.
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I’m definitely going to buy the book. I, too, have a love for old Hollywood.
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I think you will like it! And…I would say the absolute best biography I have ever read…is called “Harpo Speaks”… I’ve read books about Clara Bow, Buster Keaton, Marx Brothers, Mary Pickford…but nothing beats the Harpo book. He lived such a life and was one of the nicest people ever…but mischevious.
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Back in the early 70s there was a huge interest in the Marx Brothers in Dallas. Theaters showed their movies at midnight and of course the “munchie” crowd filled every seat. The air was usually thick with smoke and people laughed until they wet themselves. Duck Soup, maybe the greatest comedy film. I saw it many times over the years. I watched his tv show when I was young, and didn’t quite get the humor, but loved the rubber duck that came down from the ceiling.
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Phil…what I wouldn’t give to see one of their movies on the big screen. Yea in the early seventies they were HOT again. Phil…I guess it was the anti-establishment part of it that hooked college kids….everyone wants to see the establishment take one up the backside.
I agree…Duck Soup is a comedy masterpiece…it was the wildest movie they ever made….Make Groucho the head of a country…lol.
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Max I find very few so called celebrity books very uplifting. It doesn’t take much to sour me. Of course there are exceptions. I like to stick with my experience and limited knowledge. I saw a few clips of Grouch near the end. Like I said, not very uplifting. Barbara who?
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LOL… The one book that I do reccomend to people alot…is an autobiography…and I might have pushed it on you before if I have I apologize. “Harpo Speaks” that he wrote. CB… one of the most humble, funny, and nice people that ever lived…but…mischevious as hell. It’s my top book about someone…I’ve read it around 9 times. You are transported back to the turn of the century in New York and then it goes forward.
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Yes books like the ‘Harpo’ one is the exception I was talking about. Your recommendation was put on file. I have read a few really good ones but the sad, pathetic end of a lot of them bums me out. I read a Montgomery Clift bio and jumped off a bridge. Luckily I landed in a pool of Jello.
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Oh I will avoid Mr Clift’s bio! The worse one I ever read…sratch that…never got through was a book on Jann Wenner…one of the very few books I could not get through so I get what you are saying.
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Cool! 😎
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I like Groucho and the rest of his family. They’ve given me a million laughs since childhood. It’s a sad fact of human nature that when the strongest weaken, the hyenas will start circling. I’ve seen it too many times not to believe it. Sorry he faded away from being the celebrity titan he was.
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Yea she was a piece of work…sad that she ended up homeless…she did have mental issues…but denied it.
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