Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House - Hardcover

Steve Stoliar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1881649733 ISBN 13: 9781881649731

Publisher: General Publishing Group, 1996

Synopsis

Presents an intimate portrait of the legendary comedian by a young fan who became Groucho's personal secretary during the last three years of the comedian's life

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

An always devoted, sometimes naive fan attains his fondest wish and gets to work for his hero, Sovereign Wit of the Age, Groucho Marx Himself. Here he presents the quotidian details. Stoliar, now a television writer, joined a foundering household as Groucho's secretary and gofer for the last three years of the failing master's life. When he started, he was 19, Groucho was 83. It was a case of a puerile youth and a sad old pantaloon. Always honored by whatever notice the comic paid him, Stoliar took note of every snappy quip the old man could mutter. While much of it is less than significant, devotees will savor the passing references to the great, nearly forgotten songs and tag lines of the Marx canon. Not surprisingly, the author shares the limelight with Groucho, though lots of others appear from the wings chez Marx. There's son Arthur Marx and George Burns, for example. There's Marvin Hamlisch and Mae West, Nat Perrin and Nunnally Johnson, Ryskind and Perelman. There's Dick Cavett (to whom the author toadies a bit and who, it happens, has supplied the introduction to his text). The most singular character, not excepting Groucho, is the notorious Erin Flemming, the mercurial woman who, it was apparent to all who saw her in action, stole Groucho's very soul. Because it deals with a particular period in the life and death of the famous man, the book is, perforce, a unique addition to the Marxist athenaeum. Still, it is two parts a below-stairs, I-was-there, tell-all gossip piece and one part Sunset Boulevard, with Groucho Marx in the Swanson role. The net effect is simply melancholy. If Groucho had had the chance to read this, he'd have surely fired off a nasty, nifty letter, probably on the letterhead of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel. (b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

TV writer Stoliar, a lifelong Groucho Marx fan(atic), first came to the comedian's attention while a student at UCLA, where he spearheaded an attempt to win the rerelease of the 1930 Marx Brothers' film Animal Crackers. When the campaign succeeded, he was hired by Groucho's companion, Erin Fleming, as a combination personal secretary and archivist; he began the job in 1974 and held it beyond Groucho's death in 1977. The book is essentially an account of the declining years of a great talent who, even after two-or perhaps three-strokes still showed flashes of the wit that brought him stardom. Looming large in this reminiscence is Fleming, a mercurial woman who ran the household and its head, tried to alienate Groucho from his children and fired most of the nurses and servants who threatened to get close to him. That she may have drugged him on occasion or appropriated some of his money is, Stoliar suggests, at least a possibility. Eventually she was ousted and this branch of the Marx family was reunited. The memoir could be depressing were it not for the author's upbeat tone and Groucho's snappy repartee, which enlivens many pages. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: General Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1881649733
• ISBN 13: 9781881649731
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288