Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Groucho's French Order of Arts and Letters

Steve Stoliar is the author of Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House, now in its second edition. When Groucho Marx's French Order of Arts and Letters was offered on eBay last October, the seller merely wrote, "I am not sure what Groucho received this for." Steve is the one who fully appreciated what was up for sale. He wrote:
I cannot tell you how sad this makes me. Groucho received this in 1972 at Cannes. He was SO proud of it. When he'd show it off, he'd say, "I got this and Chaplin got this." He kept it on his trophy table with his Oscar, Emmy, Peabody Awards, etc. He loved to wear it on special occasions (the Oscars) and show it off to guests. I don't know how this ended up simply "inventoried" per the label on the box and up for grabs, but it's extremely upsetting to me....

République française
République française
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Estate of Groucho Marx Asset #860019

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GROUCHO-MARX-ORDRE-DES-ARTS-ET-DES-LETTRES-MEDALLION-/251364302101?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a867add15&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 




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Groucho Marx displays his Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement at the Academy Awards presentation in Los Angeles, Ca., April 3, 1974. Groucho is wearing the Commander of Arts and Letters medal he received from the French government at Cannes in 1972. (AP Photo)
--SFGate
Oscar through the ages: 1970-1989
Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, February 8, 2011


Note:  Steve Stoliar's website is here. Be sure to check out his book Raised Eyebrows. He has always been a good friend to this blog. Posts of mine that Steve has contributed to may be seen here.


The original cover artwork to the new edition of Raised Eyebrows is currently being exhibited in New York at "Drew Friedman's Old Jewish Comedians" at the Society of Illustrators. This artwork along with other posts pertaining to Groucho Marx may be seen here.

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