Margaret Dumont
Margaret Dumont would probably consider it a tragedy that she is best-known for her performances as the ultimate straight woman in seven of the Marx Brothers' films (including most of their best). By all accounts she never understood their jokes (offscreen and on), which is of course a major reason why she's so funny. Apart from a small role in a 1917 Dickens adaptation, she spent her early career on the stage, ending up with the Marxes in the late 1920s in the stage versions of The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930), and was given a Paramount contract at the same time they were. She played similar roles alongside other great comedians, including W.C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy and Jack Benny and also played straight dramatic parts (her chief love), but few of them made much impact - it is as Groucho Marx's foil that she ranks among the immortals, and she died shortly after being reunited with him on "The Hollywood Palace" (1964).
Acted in
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
2002
as Self (archiveFootage)
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
1982
as (archive footage)
The Hollywood Clowns
1979
as (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
as (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
as Self (archive footage)
What a Way to Go!
1964
as Mrs. Foster
Zotz!
1962
as Persephone Updike
Auntie Mame
1958
as Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
The Donna Reed Show
1958
Shake, Rattle and Rock!
1956
as Georgianna Fitzdingle
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
as Self
Stop, You're Killing Me
1952
as Mrs. Whitelaw
Three for Bedroom C
1952
as Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
Racket Squad
1951
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
Little Giant
1946
as Mrs. Hendrickson
Sunset in El Dorado
1945
as Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
Diamond Horseshoe
1945
as Mrs. Standish
The Horn Blows at Midnight
1945
as Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
Bathing Beauty
1944
as Mrs. Allenwood
Seven Days Ashore
1944
as Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
Up in Arms
1944
as Mrs. Willoughby
The Dancing Masters
1943
as Louise Harlan
Rhythm Parade
1942
as Ophelia MacDougal
Tales of Manhattan
1942
as Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
About Face
1942
as Mrs. Culpepper
Sing Your Worries Away
1942
as Flo Faulkner - Landlady
Born to Sing
1942
as Mrs. E. V. Lawson
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
1941
as Mrs. Hemogloben
The Big Store
1941
as Martha Phelps
For Beauty's Sake
1941
as Mrs. Franklin Evans
At the Circus
1939
as Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
Dramatic School
1938
as Pantomime Teacher
Wise Girl
1937
as Mrs. Bell-Rivington
High Flyers
1937
as Martha Arlington
Youth on Parole
1937
as Mrs. Abernathy
The Life of the Party
1937
as Mrs. Penner
A Day at the Races
1937
as Emily Upjohn
Arbor Day
1936
as Woman talking to the midgets outside
Song and Dance Man
1936
as Mrs. Whitney
Anything Goes
1936
as Mrs. Wentworth
A Night at the Opera
1935
as Mrs. Claypool
Rendezvous
1935
as Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)
Reckless
1935
as Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)
Gypsy Sweetheart
1935
as Mrs. Van Updyke
After Office Hours
1935
as Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)
Kentucky Kernels
1934
as Mrs. Baxter
Gridiron Flash
1934
as Mrs. Fields
Fifteen Wives
1934
as Sybilla Crum
We're Rich Again
1934
as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Duck Soup
1933
as Gloria Teasdale
Storm at Daybreak
1933
as Duchess Sophie (uncredited)
Wonderland of California
1933
as Self
Here, Prince
1932
as The Queen of Deleria (uncredited)
The Girl Habit
1931
as Blanche Ledyard
Animal Crackers
1930
as Mrs. Rittenhouse
The Cocoanuts
1929
as Mrs. Potter
A Tale of Two Cities
1917
as Aristocrat (uncredited)