Zeppo may not have been the funniest of the Marx brothers but last time I checked Edison wasn’t too great with the jokes either. Confused? Let me explain. As it turns out, Zeppo Marx was an inventor. In 1941, Zeppo created Marman Products Company Inc. They primarily made clamping devices and straps which can be found in every modern moving vehicle. Where else can you find the Marman clamp? You guessed it. They were used to support the atomic bombs on the Enola Gay. They can also be found in outer space on the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer on the Cassini orbiter. Zeppo also patented several other inventions: a vapor delivery pad and a cardia pulse-rate monitor.
If inventing clamps doesn’t do it for you, Zeppo also created the Marman Twin, a two cylinder low-powered motorcycle. It’s pretty much just a bike with a motor attached, but that’s more than I’ve invented.
Between building stuff and telling jokes, you would think Zeppo wouldn’t have time to do anything else impressive. But you would be wrong. Zeppo married in 1959 to Las Vegas showgirl, Barbara Blakely. Eventually they divorced and she married none other than Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.
So when you’re watching the Marx Brothers, cut Zeppo some slack. He was so busy doing all these great things, he probably just didn’t have time to be funny.
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