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Leonard Marx, known as Chico, (March 22, 1887
– October 11, 1961) was one of the Marx
Brothers.

Originally nicknamed Chicko because in those days
women were referred to as chicks and the guys who
chased them as chicken chasers, of which he was
one. A typesetter accidentally dropped the k in
his name and it became Chico, but it was still
pronounced as if it were Chicko. Chico developed
the "Italian" accent he used to convince some
roving bullies that he was Italian, not Jewish.
Stereotyped ethnic characters were common with
Vaudeville comedians, and all the Marx brothers
sometimes performed "dialect characters" early in
their careers, but Chico was the only one to
continue this.

The obvious fact that he was not really Italian
was referenced once on film, in their second
feature, Animal Crackers.  He recognizes someone
he knows to be a shady character, impersonating a
respected art collector:

:Chico: "How did you get to be Roscoe W.
Chandler?"
:Chandler: "How did you get to be Italian?"
:Chico: "Never mind that - whose confession is
this?"

Chico was a talented pianist. As a young boy, he
would get jobs playing piano to earn money for the
Marx family. Sometimes Chico would even get work
playing in two places at the same time. He would
acquire the job with his piano playing skills,
work for a few nights, and then substitute Harpo
Marx|Harpo on one of the jobs. The two brothers
looked so much alike, no one could tell the
difference. Harpo however could only play a few
tunes on the piano, which often would get both
brothers fired. 

Groucho Marx one time said that Chico never
practiced the pieces he played. Before
performances he would soak his fingers in hot
water before going on instead. He was known for
"shooting" the keys of the piano. As part of the
act he would play passages with his thumb up and
index finger straight--like a gun.

Chico became manager of the Marx Brothers after
their mother Minnie, died. As manager he cut a
deal to get the Marx Brothers a percentage of a
film's gross receipts -  the first of its kind in
Hollywood.  Furthermore, it was his Hollywood
connections that included Irving Thalberg who was
convinced to sign the brothers on to MGM when the
team was in a career slump after the failure of
Duck Soup.

For a while in the 1930s and 1940s Chico led a big
band; young Mel Torme began his professional
career singing with the Chico Marx Orchestra. 

Chico Marx had a lifelong gambling habit, which
usually kept him short of funds, and which
compelled him to continue in show business long
after his brothers had retired in comfort from
their Hollywood income.  (Groucho continued to
host the long-running television show "You Bet
Your Life" out of his love of being before an
audience rather than any financial need.) The last
two Marx brothers movies were made for Chico's
benefit; the other brothers twice returned to the
screen to bail Chico out of debt. Because of his
gambling, the brothers finally took the money as
he earned it and put him on an allowance, which he
stayed on until he died. He had a reputation as a
world-class pinochle player. It is said he would
throw away good cards (with the knowledge of
spectators) to make the play "more interesting".

He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Cemetery, in Glendale, California.