Rob Zombie to Direct Groucho Marx Biopic
Shirley, You Jest: Jewish humor has always been associated with a generous use of sarcasm. Image by Getty Images
Marx Brothers and horror fans unite?
Rob Zombie, musician turned film director, will direct the film version of Raised Eyebrows (1996), a book focusing on the final years of Groucho Marx, . Oren Moverman will write the screenplay.
The story comes from author Steve Stoliar, who worked with Groucho Marx as his personal secretary and archivist starting when he was a student at UCLA. Over his years with Groucho, Stoliar also met the rest of the Marx brothers, as well as screen siren Mae West, George Burns, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, S.J. Perelman, Steve Allen, and others.
An odd choice for Zombie, most famously known for “House of 1000 Corpses,” two “Halloween” films, and “Lords of Salem.” Zombie told Deadline, “I have been a huge Groucho Marx fan ever since I was a child and have read countless books on the comic legend, but after reading the book Raised Eyebrows, a totally new perspective on Groucho’s life emerged.”
He added: “It is a sad, funny and very dark tale of one of Hollywood’s greatest stars’ final years.”
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
