Zeppo Marx that "Herbie" was tagged with the name "Zippo" because he liked to do chinups and acrobatics, as the chimp did in its act. The youngest brother objected to this nickname, and it was altered to "Zeppo". In a TV Interview, Zeppo said that Zep is Italian-American slang for baby and as Zeppo was the youngest or baby Marx Brother he was called Zeppo. Zeppo replaced brother Gummo in the Marx Brothers stage act when the latter joined the army in 1918. Zeppo remained with the team and appeared in their successes in vaudeville, on Broadway and the first five Marx
Arthur Marx comedy "The Good Guys" and four episodes of the ill-fated "Life with Lucy". Marx was also co-creator of the TV series "Mickey" starring Mickey Rooney. Marx wrote both fiction (often humorous) and non-fiction (often show-biz related) pieces for magazines throughout his career. Along with Fisher, he co-authored the play "The Impossible Years", which ran for three seasons on Broadway and starred Alan King, and "Minnie's Boys", a musical about the Marx Brothers' vaudeville years that starred Shelley Winters. They also wrote "My Daughter's Rated X", which won the Straw Hat award for best new comedy on the summer stock circuit,