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 "Duck Soup", with Lucy dressed up as Harpo. Lucy had worked with the Marxes when she appeared in a supporting role in an earlier Marx Brothers film, "Room Service". Chico once appeared on "I've Got a Secret" dressed up as Harpo; his secret was shown in a caption reading, "I'm pretending to be Harpo Marx (I'm Chico)". The Marx Brothers were spoofed in the second act of the Broadway Review "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine". In the 1989 film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", Professor Henry Jones (Sean Connery) mails his diary to his son Indiana