George Fenneman – Maria McClay

1950-1961

You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, then moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, before making the transition to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. The last episode in its radio format aired on June 10, 1960. On television, however, the series continued for another year, debuting in its final season on September 22, 1960, and with a new title, The Groucho Show.

Episodes

S11 E19 – Dress (1961)

February 2, 1961

Maria appeared on an episode of the last season of Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life. the secret word for winning an extra $100 in this episode was “Dress”. Groucho coaxes Maria into saying the word adding to her winnings.

*Host*	Groucho Marx
*Producer*	John Guedel
*Production Company*	John Guedel Productions, NBC Studios Burbank
*Aired*	February 2nd, 1961 on NBC
*Cast*	Groucho Marx (Host), George Fenneman (Announcer & Assistant) Aden Lowry (Self, Contestant, Interior Decorator from Kansas), Maria McClay (Self, Contestant, Actress and Model)

*Maria McClay with fellow contestant Aden Lowry and host Groucho Marx.*

Maria appeared on an episode of the last season of Groucho Marx’s game show You Bet Your Life. the secret word for winning an extra $100 in this episode was “Dress”. Groucho coaxes Maria into saying the word adding to her winnings.

It’s wonderful to be able to see Maria being herself given that almost all other video we have is of her acting on screen. There’s a bit of casual sexism from Groucho that’s probably par-for-the-course for the late 50s/early 60s but once he gets that out of his system and doesn’t do any more of it, it’s lovely to just watch Maria be herself.

Scenes Featuring Maria

In order to view the video content for this post you must be logged in as a registered user of the site.