Jack Klugman

In the early 1990s, Klugman lost a vocal chord to cancer but has continued acting on stage and on television. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, in Glendale, California. He is best known for his starring roles in two popular television series of the 1970s and early 1980s: The Odd Couple (1970-1975) and Quincy, M.E. (1976-1983). It is said he would throw away good cards (with the knowledge of spectators) to make the play "more interesting". He also won an Emmy Award for his work on the television series The Defenders and appeared in four episodes of the acclaimed series The Twilight Zone. He had a reputation as a world-class pinochle player. He starred in several classic films including 12 Angry Men and Days Of Wine And Roses. Because of his gambling, the brothers finally took the money as he earned it and put him on an allowance, which he stayed on until he died.

Klugman began acting after serving in the United States Army during World War II. Chico Marx had a lifelong gambling habit, which usually kept him short of funds, and which compelled him to continue in show business long after his brothers had retired in comfort from their Hollywood income. (Groucho continued to host the long-running televison show "You Bet Your Life" out of his love of being before an audience rather than any financial need.) The last two Marx brothers movies were made for Chico's benefit; the other brothers twice returned to the screen to bail Chico out of debt. Jack Klugman (born April 27, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American television and movie actor. For a while in the 1930s and 1940s Chico led a big band; young Mel Torme began his professional career singing with the Chico Marx Orchestra. As manager he cut a deal to get the Marx Brothers a percentage of a film's gross receipts - the first of its kind in Hollywood. Chico became manager of the Marx Brothers after their mother Minnie, died.

As part of the act he would play passages with his thumb up and index finger straight--like a gun. He was known for "shooting" the keys of the piano. Before performances he would soak his fingers in hot water before going on instead. Groucho Marx one time said that Chico never practiced the pieces he played.

Harpo however could only play a few tunes on the piano, which often would get both brothers fired. The two brothers looked so much alike, no one could tell the difference. He would acquire the job with his piano playing skills, work for a few nights, and then substitute Harpo on one of the jobs. Sometimes Chico would even get work playing in two places at the same time.

As a young boy, he would get jobs playing piano to earn money for the Marx family. Chico was a talented pianist. Stereotyped ethnic characters were common with Vaudeville comedians, and all the Marx brothers sometimes performed "dialect characters" early in their careers, but Chico was the only one to continue this. Chico developed the "Italian" accent he used to convince some roving bullies that he was Italian, not Jewish.

A typesetter accidentally dropped the k in his name and it became Chico, but it was still pronounced as if it were Chicko. Originally nicknamed Chicko because in those days women were referred to as chicks and the guys who chased them as chicken chasers, of which he was one. Leonard Marx, known as Chico, (March 22, 1887 - October 11, 1961) was one of the Marx Brothers.