Margaret Dumont
1882-10-19 ( 142 years old ) in Brooklyn, New York, USA

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).

Movies

Zotz! 1962-10-03
Auntie Mame 1958-12-04
Little Giant 1946-02-22
Bathing Beauty 1944-06-27
Up in Arms 1944-02-17
Rhythm Parade 1942-12-11
About Face 1942-04-16
Born to Sing 1942-02-18
The Big Store 1941-06-20
At the Circus 1939-10-20
Wise Girl 1937-12-31
High Flyers 1937-11-07
Arbor Day 1936-05-02
Anything Goes 1936-01-24
Rendezvous 1935-10-25
Reckless 1935-04-19
Gridiron Flash 1934-10-06
Fifteen Wives 1934-07-15
Duck Soup 1933-11-12
Here, Prince 1932-10-01
The Girl Habit 1931-06-27
The Cocoanuts 1929-05-23