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Birth name Miene SchönbergBirth 9 november 1865 at Dornum (
German)
Death 15 september 1929 (at 63 years) at New York City (
USA)
Miene Schönberg Marx (9 November 1865 – 14 September 1929) was the mother and manager of the Marx Brothers, wife of Sam Marx, and the sister of vaudeville star Al Shean.
Marx was born in Dornum, Germany, the daughter of Fanny and Levi or Louis Schoenberg. While managing the Marx Brothers, she also went under the name of Minnie Palmer, so that booking agents would not know that the agent representing the Marx Brothers was actually their mother. She played the harp as did her son, Harpo Marx.
All the brothers confirmed that Marx had been the driving force in getting the troupe launched, the only person who could keep them in order, and a hard bargainer with theatre managements.
Marx and some of her sons appear briefly as characters in Glen David Gold's novel Carter Beats the Devil; the narrative identifies her as Minnie Palmer, and only gradually offers clues that the struggling vaudeville act traveling with her are the later-famous Marx Brothers. Marx (played by Shelley Winters) was also the main character in the Broadway musical Minnie's Boys.