Back in the mid-twentieth century, there were no email lists, websites, fan pages or online forums for people to discuss or communicate with their favourite celebrities. If you wanted to express your admiration for a celebrity the way to do it was to write to them and, if you were bold enough, ask for a photo. So, imagine being a celebrity yourself and finding in your correspondence a letter from someone of whom you are a fan. This happened to Julius Henry Marx, better known as “Groucho”, one of the Marx brothers comedy troupe. Groucho received a letter from TS Eliot in 1961. TS Eliot was a world famous poet who had won the Nobel prize in Literature and many other major literary awards. Marx was elated as he loved literature and admired Eliot, though he may have misunderstood the request:
“Eliot wrote the first letter to Groucho, requesting a signed photograph. What he wanted was an iconic cigar-wielding portrait; what he got was a posed photo of Groucho looking serious. The disappointment was there from the start.”1
Thus began a series of correspondences, many containing little digs at each other, but which overall indicated a degree of friendship. This letter exchange went on for three years, culminating in Groucho visiting London to have dinner with Eliot. Groucho was thrilled at the prospect and looked forward to having conversations about literature – something his profile as a comedian often prevented. “During the week I had read Murder in the Cathedral twice, The Waste Land three times [both books by Eliot], and just in case of a conversational bottleneck, I brushed up on King Lear,”4 Groucho wrote to his brother. Eliot though, seems to have had a more jovial night in mind, “On the eve of Groucho’s visit to London, Eliot wrote, “The picture of you in the newspapers saying that … you have come to London to see me has greatly enhanced my credit in the neighbourhood, and particularly with the greengrocer across the street. Obviously, I am now someone of importance.”2
Marx later described the evening in a letter to his brother, Gummo, and this is the source of what is known about the dinner.
“Well, sir, as the cocktails were served, there was a momentary lull — the kind that is more or less inevitable when strangers meet for the first time. So, apropos of practically nothing (and not with a bang but a whimper) I tossed in a quotation from The Waste Land. That, I thought, will show him I’ve read a thing or two besides my press notices from Vaudeville. Eliot smiled faintly — as though to say he was thoroughly familiar with his poems and didn’t need me to recite them. So, I took a whack at King Lear…. That too failed to bowl over the poet. He seemed more interested in discussing Animal Crackers and A Night at the Opera. He quoted a joke — one of mine — that I had long since forgotten. Now it was my turn to smile faintly…. We didn’t stay late, for we both felt that he wasn’t up to a long evening of conversation — especially mine.”4
Another source support this with a slightly different quote saying that Groucho noted that while he expounded on King Lear, Eliot “asked if I remembered the courtroom scene in Duck Soup. Fortunately, I’d forgotten every word. It was obviously the end of the Literary Evening.”3
The impact of the night seems to be that it dissolved their friendship/frenemy relationship as there is no evidence that the men exchanged any further letters after the dinner. It seems they realised they had nothing more to say to each other. I guess it pays homage to the saying to not meet your heroes as they will inevitably be unable to live up to the version of them you have in your mind. This seems to have been true for both men.
Next time I’ll talk about a genre-defining story which uses letter writing not as a means of generating friendship, but as a narrative framework. To make sure you don’t miss it, please subscribe to my mailing list.
1 Bray, E (2014) When Groucho Marx met T.S. Eliot https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/when-oucho-marx-met-ts-eliot-20140611-zs3q3.html
2 Siegel, L (2014) The Fraught Friendship of T. S. Eliot and Groucho Marx https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-fraught-friendship-of-t-s-eliot-and-groucho-marx
3 Simon, E (2022) All Male Cats Are Named Tom: Or, the Uneasy Symbiosis between T. S. Eliot and Groucho Marx https://daily.jstor.org/all-male-cats-are-named-tom-or-the-uneasy-symbiosis-between-t-s-eliot-and-groucho-marx/
4 Wick, J (2014) When Groucho Marx Quoted ‘The Waste Land’ to T.S. Eliot https://longreads.com/2014/06/06/when-groucho-marx-quoted-the-waste-land-to-t-s-eliot/
Robert New 
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