The Marxist Brothers

According to The Nation magazine in the US, the FBI kept extensive files on Groucho Marx during the 1950's in an attempt to find out if he was a Communist. The investigation was prompted when Jerry Fielding, the bandleader on Groucho's TV show, was blacklisted after refusing to testify in front of cross-dressing Senator Joe McCarthy's House Committee on Un-American Activities. 186 pages of the files have now been released following a formal request under the US's Freedom of Information Act - although apparently 16 pages have been blacked out "in the interest of national defense or foreign policy." The files apparently contain numerous letters from right-wing nutcases complaining about the Groucho's show. One particularly fine one says, "I am outraged by this show which appeared to be full of Communist propaganda. The Red stench was unmistakable."