Alexander KnoxAlexander Knox (January 16, 1907 - April 25, 1995) was a Canadian actor. Born in Strathroy, Ontario, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts to appear on the stage. During the 1930s he moved to London where he appeared in several movies. In 1944 he was chosen by Darryl F. Zanuck to star in Wilson, the biographical film about Woodrow Wilson, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Knox was unable to follow up with any Hollywood success, and he returned to England. He had major roles in The Vikings, Europa '51, The Longest Day, You Only Live Twice and Nicholas and Alexandra. He also wrote two adventure novels, Night of the White Bear and Totem Dream. He died in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. This page about Alexander Knox includes information from a Wikipedia article. Additional articles about Alexander Knox News stories about Alexander Knox External links for Alexander Knox Videos for Alexander Knox Wikis about Alexander Knox Discussion Groups about Alexander Knox Blogs about Alexander Knox Images of Alexander Knox |
|
He died in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. In 1944 he was chosen by Darryl F. Zanuck to star in Wilson, the biographical film about Woodrow Wilson, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Dave Sim, in his controversial comic book Cerebus the Aardvark, cast Groucho as the slippery, wisecracking but indomitable Lord Julius, Grandlord of the bureaucrat-ridden City-state of Palnu. During the 1930s he moved to London where he appeared in several movies. Gabe Kaplan personated him in the biographical Groucho (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084031/). Born in Strathroy, Ontario, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts to appear on the stage. Alan Alda often vamped as Groucho on M*A*S*H. Alexander Knox (January 16, 1907 - April 25, 1995) was a Canadian actor. Various Groucho-like characters have lived on since Marx's death, a testament to the character's lasting appeal. He was cremated, and the ashes were entombed in the Eden Memorial Park Cemetery in Mission Hills, California. Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977. Groucho was a master at improvising clever insults, and became well known for this. One of his frustrations in later years was that when he insulted people who annoyed him they tended to laugh, thinking it was just part of the famous comedian's act. His stage name, "Groucho," was said to have been bestowed on him because while in Vaudeville he kept his money in a bag around his neck known as a "grouch" bag. An alternate story is that he was grouchy. In later years he grew a real mustache. Off-stage he was bookish and stated late in life that he lamented the fact he had never finished school or gone to college. Some of the letters displaying his wit were incorporated into a book. Throughout his career he introduced a number of memorable songs in films, including "Hooray for Captain Spaulding", "I'm Against It", "Hello I Must be Going", "Everyone Says I Love You" and "Lydia the Tattooed Lady". Crooner Frank Sinatra once quipped that the only thing he could do better than Marx was sing. The show was responsible for the phrases "Say the secret word and win a prize" and "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?". Then they would play a brief quiz. The show consisted of Groucho interviewing the contestants and ad libbing jokes. In the 1950s, he hosted the popular television program You Bet Your Life. Groucho also worked as a radio comedian and show host in the 1930s and 1940s. (See: Marx Brothers). He and his brothers starred in a series of extraordinarily popular movies and stage shows, often departing from the scripts they were using. Groucho developed a routine as a wise-cracking hustler with a distinctive chicken-walking lope and an exaggerated greasepaint moustache, improvising insults to stuffy dowagers (often played by Margaret Dumont) who stood in his way. He quickly dropped the accent and developed the fast-talking wise guy character he would make famous. However, after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915 public anti-German sentiment was widespread, and Groucho's "German" character was booed. For a time in vaudeville, all the brothers performed in ethnic accents; Groucho did a German accent. Leonard Marx, the oldest Marx brother, developed the "Italian" accent he used as "Chico" to convince some roving bullies that he was Italian, not Jewish. The Marx family grew up on the Upper East Side of New York City, in a small Jewish neighborhood sandwiched between Irish/German and Italian neighborhoods. Julius Henry Marx, known as Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 - August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings the Marx Brothers and on his own. This line spread to other nations as well in the 1960s and 1970s. A famous French witticism was "Je suis Marxiste, tendance Groucho."; "I'm a Marxist of the Groucho variety". [...] He is simply unique in the same way that Picasso or Stravinsky are." — Woody Allen. "Groucho Marx was the best comedian this country ever produced. |