Here's a bit of TV history…the episode of Hollywood Palace that aired April 17, 1965. It was hosted by Groucho Marx and the guest list included Gordon and Sheila MacRae, Shecky Greene, Miriam Makeba, Groucho's daughter Melinda, a flamenco dancer and a few other acts. The number Groucho performs with his daughter is charming but the real treat comes late in the proceedings — a sketch he does with the dowager of dowagers, Margaret Dumont.
Though her association with the Brothers Marx made her rather famous, Ms. Dumont did not work a lot. The last decade of her life, she averaged about one acting job a year. In February of '65, she taped the routine with Groucho — a re-creation of material from Animal Crackers…then a few days later, more than a month before the show aired, she died of a heart attack at the age of 83.
Isn't it nice that she got to do this before she left us? And am I imagining it or are she and Groucho both really happy to be together again?