Gummo Marx a number of writers, and was well respected as a businessman. He rarely required contracts, believing that if the people he represented liked his work, they would stay with him; and if not, would seek representation elsewhere. Around the time he left his brothers' Vaudeville act, Marx applied for a patent for a clothes packing rack. On October 28, 1919, Marx was granted patent US1320335A. Gummo may have received his nickname because he had a tendency to be sneaky backstage, creeping up on others like a "gumshoe" (detective). Another explanation cited by biographers and family members is that Milton, the
Marx Brothers appeared, sometimes with Chico and Zeppo caricatured, in cartoons starring Mickey Mouse, Flip the Frog and others. In the "Airwolf" episode 'Condemned', four anti-virus formulae for a deadly plague were named after the four Marx Brothers. In "All in the Family", Rob Reiner often did imitations of Groucho, and Sally Struthers dressed as Harpo in one episode in which she (as Gloria Stivic) and Rob (as Mike Stivic) were going to a Marx Brothers film festival, with Reiner dressing as Groucho. Gabe Kaplan did many Groucho imitations on his sit-com "Welcome Back, Kotter" and Robert Hegyes sometimes imitated both Chico