Who Was He: American comedian, the third-oldest and funniest of the Marx Brothers. Career Highlights: Animal Crackers (1930), Duck Soup (1933) which invented the famous mirror joke, A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), both of which lent their names to albums by Queen. Groucho remains one of the most influential and recognisable comedians of the 20th century. Context of Last Words: Following his last major public appearance, when he was honoured at the 1974 Oscars, Marx grew increasingly frail and senile. He contracted pneumonia in 1977 and died surrounded by his family. Last Words: Die, my dear! Why, thats the last thing Ill do!