Margaret Dumont
Encyclopedia
Margaret Dumont was an American comedic actress. She is remembered mostly for being the comic foil
to Groucho Marx
in seven of the Marx Brothers
films. Groucho called her "practically the fifth Marx brother."
, where she was mainly raised by her godfather
, the writer Joel Chandler Harris
.
Dumont trained as an operatic singer and actress in her teens, and began performing on stage in both America and Europe, at first under the name Daisy Dumont and later as Margaret (or Marguerite) Dumont. Her theatrical debut was in Beauty and the Beast at the Chestnut Theater in Philadelphia, and in August 1902, two months before her 20th birthday, she appeared as a singer/comedienne in a vaudeville
act in Atlantic City. The dark-haired soubrette
, described by a theater reviewer as a "statuesque beauty", attracted notice later that decade for her vocal and comedic talents in The Girl Behind the Counter (1908), The Belle of Brittany (1909), and The Summer Widower (1910).
In 1910, she married millionaire sugar heir and industrialist John Moller Jr. and retired from stage work, although she had a small uncredited role as an aristocrat in a 1917 film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities
. After her husband's sudden death in 1918, she returned reluctantly to the Broadway
stage, and soon gained a strong reputation in musical comedy productions. Her Broadway career included roles in the musical comedies and plays The Fan (1921), Go Easy, Mabel (1922), The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly (1923/24), and The Fourflusher (1925), and she had another uncredited role in the 1923 film Enemies of Women
.
, who hired her to play the dowager Mrs. Potter alongside the Four Marx Brothers in their Broadway production of The Cocoanuts
in 1925. In October 1928, their next Broadway show, Animal Crackers, opened, and Dumont was again cast as the wealthy society dowager and their straight woman. In 1929 they filmed the screen version of The Cocoanuts
, which was one of the first true talking pictures.
Performing with the Marx Brothers, Dumont played wealthy high-society, posh-voiced widows whom Groucho alternately insulted and romanced for their money. The roles are Mrs. Potter in The Cocoanuts (1929), Mrs. Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers
(1930), Mrs. Gloria Teasdale in Duck Soup (1933), Mrs. Claypool in A Night at the Opera
(1935), Emily Upjohn in A Day at the Races
(1937), Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury in At the Circus
(1939), and Martha Phelps in The Big Store
(1941). Her work in A Day at the Races earned her a Best Supporting Actress Award from the Screen Actors Guild
, film critic Cecilia Ager
suggesting that a monument be erected in honor of her courage and steadfastness in the face of the Marx Brothers' antics.
Groucho once said that many people believed they were married in real life, even though they were not. A typical exchange, from Duck Soup, follows:
Dumont also endured dialogue about her characters' (and thus her own) stoutish build, as with these lines, also from Duck Soup:
and:
Or her age (in their last film pairing, The Big Store):
Dumont's character would often give a short, startled or confused reaction to such insults, but would not otherwise respond and appeared to forget the insult quickly.
Dumont's presumed ladylike innocence, in contrast to Groucho's perpetual leer, was fodder for Groucho's oft-stated comment that the brothers had to explain jokes like this to her:
and this, from A Night at the Opera:
But there could be fleeting moments of touching consideration shown by Groucho in their faux romances, as in the party scene from The Big Store:
Decades later in his one man show at New York's Carnegie Hall
, Groucho mentioned Dumont's name and got a burst of applause. He informed the audience that she rarely understood the humor of their scenes together and would ask him, "Why are they laughing, Julie?" ("Julie" was her nickname for Julius, Groucho's birth name.) Dumont was so important to the success of the Marx Brothers films, she is one of the few people mentioned by Groucho in his short acceptance speech for an honorary Oscar (the other four are Harpo, Chico, his mother, and his companion Erin Fleming. Zeppo Marx
was omitted.) In her interviews and press profiles, Dumont preserved the myth of her on-screen character: the wealthy, regal woman who never quite understood the joke. Dumont's acting style, especially in early films, provides a window into the old-fashioned theatrical style of projecting to the back row, such as trilling the "r" for emphasis. She also had a classical operatic singing voice which screenwriters eagerly used to their advantage.
Perpetuating Groucho's joke on the subject, film critics and historians have stated for decades that since Dumont never broke character or cracked a smile at Groucho's jokes, she did not "get" the Marx Brothers' type of humor. The fact is she knew the jokes were funny indeed, but as a seasoned actress and a professional kept a straight face no matter what. In the early Marx brothers films especially, when Groucho levels an insult at her, she can be seen giving an appropriate and fleeting "shocked" response as part of her characterization. One exception to her sticking with the script occurred in her last appearance with Groucho in 1965 on ABC-TV's Hollywood Palace. Mid-way through a recreation of a scene from Animal Crackers, Groucho stopped her as she was about to deliver her next line. "Don't step on those few laughs I have up here" he scolded, which made Dumont break up laughing.
She also played the same dignified, poised dowager in other movies, with W.C. Fields (Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
, 1941) and (Tales of Manhattan
, 1942), Abbott and Costello
(Little Giant
, 1946), Laurel and Hardy
(The Dancing Masters
, 1943), Red Skelton
(Bathing Beauty
, 1944), Jack Benny
(The Horn Blows at Midnight
, 1945), Wheeler and Woolsey (Kentucky Kernels, 1934) and (High Flyers, 1937, with Lupe Vélez
thrown in for good measure), radio comedian Joe Penner
(The Life of the Party, 1937), and Danny Kaye
(Up In Arms, 1944), and on television with Martin and Lewis
(The Colgate Comedy Hour
, December 1951). Interestingly, Turner Classic Movies’ website says of High Flyers—one of her lesser-known outings: "The surprise…is seeing her play a somewhat daffy matron, more Billie Burke than typical Margaret Dumont. As the lady who's into crystal gazing and dotes on her kleptomaniac bull terrier, she brings a discreetly screwball touch to the proceedings." Dumont also played some dramatic parts, such as Youth on Parole (1937) and Dramatic School (1938). She also appeared in Stop, You're Killing Me
(1952), Three for Bedroom C (1952), Shake, Rattle & Rock!
(1956), and Zotz!
(1962). Her last movie was What a Way to Go!
(1964), in which she played Shirley MacLaine
's mother, Mrs. Foster.
Eight days before her death she made her final acting appearance on the television program The Hollywood Palace
on February 26, 1965, where she was reunited onstage with Groucho—that week's guest host—one final time. They performed material adapted from Captain Spaulding's introductory scene in Animal Crackers. The taped show was aired on April 17, several weeks after her passing.
on March 6, 1965, Margaret Dumont was cremated, her ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory
in Los Angeles. She was 82 years of age, although many obituaries gave her age as 75.
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
to Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
in seven of the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
films. Groucho called her "practically the fifth Marx brother."
Early life and career
She was born Daisy Juliette Baker in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of William Baker and Harriet Anna Harong. As a child Daisy Baker lived in the southern statesSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, where she was mainly raised by her godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
, the writer Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Harris was born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years...
.
Dumont trained as an operatic singer and actress in her teens, and began performing on stage in both America and Europe, at first under the name Daisy Dumont and later as Margaret (or Marguerite) Dumont. Her theatrical debut was in Beauty and the Beast at the Chestnut Theater in Philadelphia, and in August 1902, two months before her 20th birthday, she appeared as a singer/comedienne in a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
act in Atlantic City. The dark-haired soubrette
Soubrette
A soubrette is a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".-Theater:...
, described by a theater reviewer as a "statuesque beauty", attracted notice later that decade for her vocal and comedic talents in The Girl Behind the Counter (1908), The Belle of Brittany (1909), and The Summer Widower (1910).
In 1910, she married millionaire sugar heir and industrialist John Moller Jr. and retired from stage work, although she had a small uncredited role as an aristocrat in a 1917 film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
. After her husband's sudden death in 1918, she returned reluctantly to the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage, and soon gained a strong reputation in musical comedy productions. Her Broadway career included roles in the musical comedies and plays The Fan (1921), Go Easy, Mabel (1922), The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly (1923/24), and The Fourflusher (1925), and she had another uncredited role in the 1923 film Enemies of Women
Enemies of Women
Enemies of Women is a 1923 silent romantic drama film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Lionel Barrymore, Alma Rubens, Gladys Hulette, Pedro de Cordoba, and Paul Panzer. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst through his Cosmopolitan Productions...
.
Performances with the Marx Brothers
She then came to the attention of writer George S. KaufmanGeorge S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
, who hired her to play the dowager Mrs. Potter alongside the Four Marx Brothers in their Broadway production of The Cocoanuts
The Cocoanuts (musical)
The Cocoanuts is a musical with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a book by George S. Kaufman, with additional text by Morrie Ryskind.-Background:...
in 1925. In October 1928, their next Broadway show, Animal Crackers, opened, and Dumont was again cast as the wealthy society dowager and their straight woman. In 1929 they filmed the screen version of The Cocoanuts
The Cocoanuts
The Cocoanuts is the first feature-length Marx Brothers film, produced by Paramount Pictures. The musical comedy stars the four Marx Brothers, Oscar Shaw, Mary Eaton, and Margaret Dumont. Produced by Walter Wanger and the first sound movie to credit more than one director , and was adapted to the...
, which was one of the first true talking pictures.
Performing with the Marx Brothers, Dumont played wealthy high-society, posh-voiced widows whom Groucho alternately insulted and romanced for their money. The roles are Mrs. Potter in The Cocoanuts (1929), Mrs. Rittenhouse in Animal Crackers
Animal Crackers (film)
Animal Crackers is a 1930 American comedy film, in which mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding. The film was both a critical and commercial success upon initial release, and remains one of the Marx...
(1930), Mrs. Gloria Teasdale in Duck Soup (1933), Mrs. Claypool in A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (film)
A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
(1935), Emily Upjohn in A Day at the Races
A Day at the Races (film)
Further reading* Elisabeth Buxbaum: Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Edition Steinbauer, Wien 2006, ISBN 3-902494-18-2-External links:*...
(1937), Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury in At the Circus
At the Circus
At the Circus is a 1939 Marx Brothers comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they save a circus from bankruptcy...
(1939), and Martha Phelps in The Big Store
The Big Store
The Big Store is a Marx Brothers comedy film in which Groucho, Chico and Harpo work to save the Phelps Department Store, owned by Martha Phelps . Groucho plays her detective and bodyguard Wolf J...
(1941). Her work in A Day at the Races earned her a Best Supporting Actress Award from the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, film critic Cecilia Ager
Cecilia Ager
Cecelia Ager was an American film critic and star reporter for Variety and the New York Post Magazine. Married for 57 years to songwriter Milton Ager, she was mother to two daughters, Laurel Bentley and journalist Shana Alexander. Ager was known as "the coed" for her wit and the ukulele she...
suggesting that a monument be erected in honor of her courage and steadfastness in the face of the Marx Brothers' antics.
Groucho once said that many people believed they were married in real life, even though they were not. A typical exchange, from Duck Soup, follows:
- Groucho: Oh, uh, I suppose you'll think me a sentimental old fluff, but would you mind giving me a lock of your hair?
- Dumont (smitten): A lock of my hair? Why, I had no idea you ...
- Groucho: I'm letting you off easy. I was gonna ask for the whole wig!
Dumont also endured dialogue about her characters' (and thus her own) stoutish build, as with these lines, also from Duck Soup:
- Dumont: I've sponsored your appointment because I feel you are the most able statesman in all Freedonia.
- Groucho: Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself! You'd better beat it; I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing!
and:
- Groucho: Why don't you marry me?
- Dumont: Why, marry you?
- Groucho: You take me, and I'll take a vacation. I'll need a vacation if we're going to get married. Married! I can see you right now in the kitchen, bending over a hot stove. But I can't see the stove!
Or her age (in their last film pairing, The Big Store):
- Dumont (kittenish after Groucho steals a peck): You make me think of my youth.
- Groucho: Really? He must be a big boy by now.
Dumont's character would often give a short, startled or confused reaction to such insults, but would not otherwise respond and appeared to forget the insult quickly.
Dumont's presumed ladylike innocence, in contrast to Groucho's perpetual leer, was fodder for Groucho's oft-stated comment that the brothers had to explain jokes like this to her:
- Groucho (to the other brothers, during a battle sequence in Duck Soup): Remember, you're fighting for this woman's honor, which is probably more than she ever did!
and this, from A Night at the Opera:
- Dumont: Do you have everything, Otis?
- Groucho: I've never had any complaints yet!
But there could be fleeting moments of touching consideration shown by Groucho in their faux romances, as in the party scene from The Big Store:
- Dumont: Oh, I'm afraid after we're married a while a beautiful young girl will come along and you'll forget all about me.
- Groucho: Don't be silly. I'll write you twice a week.
Decades later in his one man show at New York's Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, Groucho mentioned Dumont's name and got a burst of applause. He informed the audience that she rarely understood the humor of their scenes together and would ask him, "Why are they laughing, Julie?" ("Julie" was her nickname for Julius, Groucho's birth name.) Dumont was so important to the success of the Marx Brothers films, she is one of the few people mentioned by Groucho in his short acceptance speech for an honorary Oscar (the other four are Harpo, Chico, his mother, and his companion Erin Fleming. Zeppo Marx
Zeppo Marx
Herbert Manfred "Zeppo" Marx was an American film star, musician, engineer, theatrical agent and businessman. He was the youngest of the five Marx Brothers. He appeared in the first five Marx Brothers feature films, from 1929 to 1933, but then left the act to start his second career as an...
was omitted.) In her interviews and press profiles, Dumont preserved the myth of her on-screen character: the wealthy, regal woman who never quite understood the joke. Dumont's acting style, especially in early films, provides a window into the old-fashioned theatrical style of projecting to the back row, such as trilling the "r" for emphasis. She also had a classical operatic singing voice which screenwriters eagerly used to their advantage.
Perpetuating Groucho's joke on the subject, film critics and historians have stated for decades that since Dumont never broke character or cracked a smile at Groucho's jokes, she did not "get" the Marx Brothers' type of humor. The fact is she knew the jokes were funny indeed, but as a seasoned actress and a professional kept a straight face no matter what. In the early Marx brothers films especially, when Groucho levels an insult at her, she can be seen giving an appropriate and fleeting "shocked" response as part of her characterization. One exception to her sticking with the script occurred in her last appearance with Groucho in 1965 on ABC-TV's Hollywood Palace. Mid-way through a recreation of a scene from Animal Crackers, Groucho stopped her as she was about to deliver her next line. "Don't step on those few laughs I have up here" he scolded, which made Dumont break up laughing.
Other roles and later life
Over the course of her career Margaret Dumont played in 57 films, including some minor silent work that began with A Tale of Two Cities (1917). Her first feature film was the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts (1929), in which she played Mrs. Potter, the same role she played in the stage version from which the film was adapted.She also played the same dignified, poised dowager in other movies, with W.C. Fields (Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 Universal Pictures comedy film starring W.C. Fields. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym "Otis Criblecoblis". Fields plays himself, searching for a chance to promote a surreal screenplay he has written, whose several framed sequences...
, 1941) and (Tales of Manhattan
Tales of Manhattan
Tales of Manhattan is a 1942 American anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart worked on the six stories in this film.-Cast:...
, 1942), Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
(Little Giant
Little Giant
Little Giant is a 1946 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello released by Universal Pictures.-Plot:A naive country boy named Benny Miller , from Cucamonga, California, has been taking correspondence phonograph lessons in salesmanship...
, 1946), Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
(The Dancing Masters
The Dancing Masters
The Dancing Masters is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film. The plot involves the team running a ballet school, and getting involved with an inventor...
, 1943), Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
(Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty is a 1944 musical starring Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone and Esther Williams and directed by George Sidney.Although this was not William's screen debut, it was her first Technicolor musical. The film was initially to be titled "Mr. Co-Ed" with Red Skelton having top billing...
, 1944), Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
(The Horn Blows at Midnight
The Horn Blows at Midnight
The Horn Blows at Midnight is a comedy fantasy film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Jack Benny. Its biggest claim to fame, apart from its star, is its failure at the box office, and this fact was exploited often for laughs in Benny's popular radio and television comedy series The Jack Benny...
, 1945), Wheeler and Woolsey (Kentucky Kernels, 1934) and (High Flyers, 1937, with Lupe Vélez
Lupe Vélez
Lupe Vélez was a Mexican film actress. Vélez began her career in Mexico as a dancer, before moving to the U.S. where she worked in vaudeville. She was seen by Fanny Brice who promoted her, and Vélez soon entered films, making her first appearance in 1924. By the end of the decade she had...
thrown in for good measure), radio comedian Joe Penner
Joe Penner
Joe Penner was an American 1930s-era vaudeville, radio and film comedian. He was an ethnic Hungarian born as József Pintér in Nagybecskerek, Austria-Hungary...
(The Life of the Party, 1937), and Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
(Up In Arms, 1944), and on television with Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis as the comedic "foil". The pair first met in 1945; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
(The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...
, December 1951). Interestingly, Turner Classic Movies’ website says of High Flyers—one of her lesser-known outings: "The surprise…is seeing her play a somewhat daffy matron, more Billie Burke than typical Margaret Dumont. As the lady who's into crystal gazing and dotes on her kleptomaniac bull terrier, she brings a discreetly screwball touch to the proceedings." Dumont also played some dramatic parts, such as Youth on Parole (1937) and Dramatic School (1938). She also appeared in Stop, You're Killing Me
Stop, You're Killing Me
Stop, You're Killing Me is a 1952 film directed by Roy Del Ruth. It stars Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor.-Synopsis:The surprise appearance of four corpses interferes with a beer baron's plans to crash high society.-Cast:...
(1952), Three for Bedroom C (1952), Shake, Rattle & Rock!
Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956 film)
Shake Rattle and Rock! is a 1956 musical/comedy-drama film directed by Edward L. Cahn for American International Pictures.-Cast:*Touch Connors as Garry Nelson*Lisa Gaye as June Fitzdingle*Sterling Holloway as Albert "Axe" McAllister...
(1956), and Zotz!
Zotz!
Zotz! is a 1962 fantasy/comedy film produced and directed by William Castle, about a man obtaining magical powers from a god of an ancient civilization. The film is based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Walter Karig.-Plot:...
(1962). Her last movie was What a Way to Go!
What a Way to Go!
What a Way to Go! is a 1964 American comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Margaret Dumont, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke.-Plot:...
(1964), in which she played Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
's mother, Mrs. Foster.
Eight days before her death she made her final acting appearance on the television program The Hollywood Palace
The Hollywood Palace
The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. It began as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months...
on February 26, 1965, where she was reunited onstage with Groucho—that week's guest host—one final time. They performed material adapted from Captain Spaulding's introductory scene in Animal Crackers. The taped show was aired on April 17, several weeks after her passing.
Death
After her death from a heart attackMyocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on March 6, 1965, Margaret Dumont was cremated, her ashes stored in the vault at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory
Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street Los Angeles, California, in the historic West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown...
in Los Angeles. She was 82 years of age, although many obituaries gave her age as 75.