It’s not known that the movie and television legend Groucho Marx had a connection to tennis – his son Arthur was a nationally ranked tennis player as a junior.
In the book The Groucho Letters: Letters From And To Groucho Marx, there are many references of Arthur and his tennis exploits, including competing at US Nationals at Forest Hills, the Southwest, and making the final of the Santa Monica Tennis Tournament in 1940 where he was defeated by “Carl Earn, a tennis player with the weirdest assortment of strokes ever seen. To begin with, he’s a left-hander and slashes and cuts and overspins his opponent dizzy. Arthur lost the first set 6-0, then 8-6, then 6-4. I think that in another year Arthur will be better than this guy. When he teamed up with Earn, they won the doubles…”
In 1941, Groucho attended Forest Hills… “I’m going on the USO Show – that’s the US Defense Bond program, which is broadcast every Wednesday night at 9 PM over CBS. This will be August 20 and I’ll probably arrive in New York around the tenth. I plan on staying three weeks in and around New York watching Arthur get quickly eliminated at the Nationals and Forest Hills and then I’ll scurry back to California to my old routine…”
Another mention in 1942: “Young Vanderbilt was playing singles at the tennis club yesterday and he doesn’t hit the ball any better than a fellow without money.”
Groucho admitted in 1940 to Arthur that it was a challenge to be a tennis father: “I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not so hot being the father of a tennis player. Hundreds of people to whom I wouldn’t talk normally, rush up to me and immediately begin a long, involved conversation, explaining why you either won or lost in the last tournament. As you know, I’m deeply interested in your athletic progress, but not to the degree that I want to discuss it twelve hours a day.”
The star of films Duck Soup, At The Circus, A Night At The Opera, Day At The Races and TV Show You Bet Your Life, compared tennis life to entertainment: “I imagine (you are) pretty disgusted with the whole tennis tour. Well, that’s life. As you journey through it, you will encounter all sorts of these nasty little upsets, and you will learn to adjust yourself to them or gradually go nuts.”
After tennis, Arthur became a successful writer and even wrote scripts for TV shows like All In The Family, My Three Sons and Alice. He also wrote over a dozen books.
His best tennis moment was making the finals of Cincinnati Open in 1940, a five set loss to Bobby Riggs.
Arthur Marx · Bobby Riggs · Forest Hills · Groucho Marx
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