Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding is a fictional character in the Broadway musical ''

Animal Crackers An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, but ...

'' and the film of the same name. He was originally played by actor

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

, one of the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

, in both productions. Despite his middle name being Edgar, he is known as Jeffrey T. Spaulding; his first name is also spelled as "Geoffrey" in parts of the film. Spaulding had a

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

entitled " Hooray for Captain Spaulding", composed by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, which all of the guests sing upon his arrival. This song would go on to be associated with Marx for the rest of his life in public; it was the theme for his television series '' You Bet Your Life'' and was often played when he was introduced as a guest on television shows. At Marx's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

concert in the early 1970s, accompanist

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only seventeen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an " EGOT ...

played the song as Marx made his entrance onstage.

Role in ''Animal Crackers''

Spaulding is a famous explorer on return from a trek across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to be the guest of honour at a high-society party given by the wealthy dowager Mrs. Rittenhouse ( Margaret Dumont). She frequently claims that Spaulding is one of the most courageous travellers in the world, yet by his own accounts of his safari, he reveals his cowardice. At the party, which is taking place over a weekend, a valuable painting is stolen, and he, along with the police and his secretary Jamison ( Zeppo Marx), try to recover it.

In popular culture

In the 1939 Marx Brothers' film ''

At the Circus ''At the Circus'' is a 1939 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx and Chico Marx) released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they help save a circus from bankruptcy. The film contains Groucho Marx's classic rendition of ...

'', J. Cheever Loophole (also played by Groucho Marx) sings a rendition of "

Lydia the Tattooed Lady "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" is a 1939 song written by Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen. It first appeared in the Marx Brothers movie ''At the Circus'' (1939) and became one of Groucho Marx's signature tunes. It subsequently appeared in the movie '' The ...

" and one line references Lydia having a tattoo of Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon. The character Capt. Calvin Spaulding from the television show ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

'', played by Loudon Wainwright III, was named after the Marx character. The

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

character Captain Spaulding, who appears in several works by

Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...

(including '' House of 1000 Corpses'', ''

The Devil's Rejects ''The Devil's Rejects'' is a 2005 black comedy horror film written, produced and directed by Rob Zombie, and is the second film in the ''Firefly'' film series, serving as a sequel to his 2003 film ''House of 1000 Corpses''. The film is center ...

'', and ''

3 From Hell ''3 from Hell'' is a 2019 American horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Rob Zombie. It is the third installment in the ''Firefly'' trilogy, which began with ''House of 1000 Corpses'' (2003), and stars Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Mose ...

''), is named after the Marx character.

References

External links

Captain Jeffrey Spaulding
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Literary characters introduced in 1928 Fictional explorers Fictional military captains Marx Brothers Comedy film characters Male characters in film {{film-char-stub