I meant to post this yesterday but life, as it often does, interfered with my plans. Yesterday was the anniversary of the passing of Groucho Marx — a day that meant Mixed Feelings for those of us who loved the man and what he represented on-screen. I had the honor of being in his presence three times — one, when he was still able to walk and talk pretty much as he always had; once, when he was so "out of it" that a planned TV appearance had to be canceled; and once, up at his home, when a party of sorts spiraled around him and he just sat there, unable to say or understand very much of our brief conversation.
You can perhaps understand how I went home from that third visit feeling that Groucho was already gone.
If I had met Steve Stoliar that day at Groucho's house, I would have felt badly for him. Steve was a devout Groucho fan who stumbled into the dream job of assisting Groucho in the comedian's last few years. His book, Raised Eyebrows, recounts that bittersweet experience becoming involved in Groucho's last days, struggling to remain non-partisan when others were starting to fight over the body and whatever it owned. I highly recommend Steve's book and while you can buy it on Amazon, it's better if you buy it from the author who will personalize it for you.
But I didn't meet Steve back then. I met him and we became good friends thirty-five years after Groucho passed and since then, we've logged a lot of hours talking about all things Marx as well as other topics. Occasionally, it's about being present for and perhaps participating in the last years of people we'd admired from afar in their younger days. It's a very strange position to find one's self in.
Groucho meant a lot to a lot of us as he may have to you. His was a unique comic voice…and attitude…and body language. He was funny in just about every way a person can be funny on a stage and the things he said, whether ad-libbed or written by great comedy writers, were eminently quotable. I'm glad I met him that first time…and a little less glad for the other two encounters.