Minnie Marx Minnie Marx Minnie Marx (born Miene Schönberg, 9 November 1865 or 1864 – 13 September 1929) was the mother and manager of the Marx Brothers, wife of Sam Marx, and the sister of vaudeville star Al Shean. Marx was born Miene Schönberg in Dornum, Germany. Her parents Fanny née Salomons (1829–1898) and Levy "Lafe" Schönberg (1823–1919) were members of the local Jewish community. Her mother was a yodeling harpist, her father a ventriloquist. Her younger brother, Abraham Elieser Adolf, the future "Al Shean", was born in 1868. About 1880 the family emigrated to New York City, where Minnie married Samuel
Groucho Marx way. As the Marx Brothers, he and his brothers starred in a series of popular stage shows and movies. Their first movie was a silent film made in 1921 that was never released, and is believed to have been destroyed at the time. A decade later, the team made two of their Broadway hits—"The Cocoanuts" and "Animal Crackers"—into movies. Other successful films were "Monkey Business", "Horse Feathers", "Duck Soup", and "A Night at the Opera". One quip from Marx concerned his response to Sam Wood, the director of "A Night at the Opera". Furious with the Marx Brothers' ad-libs and