Groucho Marx's career as a solo performer began long before the Marx Brothers and lasted almost until the end of his life, with a series of controversial sold-out concerts in his eighties. In between came several films, numerous television and radio appearances, theater performances, dramatic acting and writing and his smash hit radio and TV quiz show You Bet Your Life (1947-1961).

This first ever comprehensive study of his work without his famous brothers reveals a Groucho perhaps unfamiliar to the public. Driven to prove he was much more than just a comedian with a greasepaint (later real) mustache, Groucho always thought of himself as essentially a solo performer and strove for individual success in his professional life--and to balance (if not always successfully) his career with his family life. Many rare photographs are included, along with new and previously unpublished interviews.