Gummo may have received his nickname because he had a tendency to be sneaky backstage, creeping up on others like a "gumshoe," slang for a detective. On October 28, 1919, Marx was granted patent US1320335A. Around the time he left his brothers' Vaudeville act, Marx applied for a patent for a clothes-packing rack. He rarely required contracts, believing that if the people he represented liked his work, they would stay with him. He also represented other on-screen talent and a number of writers, and was well respected as a businessman.
After that collaboration ended, Gummo represented his brother Groucho and worked on the television show The Life of Riley, which he helped develop. After his Army career he joined with Zeppo and operated a theatrical agency. Gummo later went into the raincoat business. Gummo's younger brother Zeppo took his place in the group. He was not sent overseas because the armistice was signed shortly afterward. Gummo, who in an interview said he never liked being on stage, left the group and joined the military during World War I. The act may have only performed once and was not helped by Shean's deafness or Milton's stammer.
Milton was put into a costume with a papier-mâché head and pretended to be a dummy while Henry pretended to work him. Career Īlthough the fourth Marx Brother in age, he was the first to make his debut, pretending to be a dummy in an act with his uncle Henry Shean (né Heinemann Schoenberg), the brother of Al Shean, in 1899. His mother was from Dornum in East Frisia, and his father was a native of Alsace and worked as a tailor. His parents were Sam Marx (called "Frenchie" throughout his life), and Minnie Schoenberg Marx. Marx was born in Manhattan, New York City, on October 23, 1893.