Margaret Dumont

Margaret Dumont

Born: October 19, 1882
Died: March 6, 1965
in Brooklyn, New York, USA
Margaret Dumont would probably consider it a tragedy that she is best-known for her performances as the ultimate straight woman in seven of the Marx Brothers' films (including most of their best). By all accounts she never understood their jokes (offscreen and on), which is of course a major reason why she's so funny. Apart from a small role in a 1917 Dickens adaptation, she spent her early career on the stage, ending up with the Marxes in the late 1920s in the stage versions of The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930), and was given a Paramount contract at the same time they were. She played similar roles alongside other great comedians, including W.C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy and Jack Benny and also played straight dramatic parts (her chief love), but few of them made much impact - it is as Groucho Marx's foil that she ranks among the immortals, and she died shortly after being reunited with him on "The Hollywood Palace" (1964).

Movies for Margaret Dumont...

The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
Title: The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
Character: (archive footage)
Released: January 2, 1982
Type: Movie
A fascinating look at the most beloved comedy team in motion picture history. Exclusive interviews with those closest to the brothers supplement this collection of highlights from their film, theater, and television appearances and offer a compelling look at their lives both on and off-screen.
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The Hollywood Clowns
Title: The Hollywood Clowns
Character: (archive footage)
Released: March 23, 1979
Type: Movie
Glenn Ford narrates this hilarious look back at the greatest comedians in movie history.
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That's Entertainment, Part II
Title: That's Entertainment, Part II
Character: (archive footage)
Released: May 16, 1976
Type: Movie
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Title: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: August 6, 1975
Type: Movie
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Title: Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 10, 1972
Type: Movie
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
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What a Way to Go!
Title: What a Way to Go!
Character: Mrs. Foster
Released: October 12, 1964
Type: Movie
A four-time widow discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich.
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Zotz!
Title: Zotz!
Character: Persephone Updike
Released: October 3, 1962
Type: Movie
Jonathan Jones, a professor of ancient languages, comes into possession of an ancient coin. He translates its inscription, which gives him three powers: to inflict pain, slow down time or kill. Soon, he's pursued by enemy spies who have learned about the magic coin.
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Auntie Mame
Title: Auntie Mame
Character: Noblewoman in Play (uncredited)
Released: December 4, 1958
Type: Movie
Mame Dennis, a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick after his wealthy father dies. Conflict ensues when the executor of the father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school.
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Title: The Donna Reed Show
Released: September 24, 1958
Type: TV
Revolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement bash for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children.
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Shake, Rattle and Rock!
Title: Shake, Rattle and Rock!
Character: Georgianna Fitzdingle
Released: November 1, 1956
Type: Movie
A TV star meets with opposition from adults who object to the opening of a rock 'n' roll palace for teens.
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Title: The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Character: Self
Released: October 5, 1956
Type: TV
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet", which continued to be used in Chevrolet advertising for several more years after the cancellation of the show.
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Stop, You're Killing Me
Title: Stop, You're Killing Me
Character: Mrs. Whitelaw
Released: December 10, 1952
Type: Movie
A gangster and his wife attempt to go straight. Comedy. Remake of the 1938 film "A Slight Case of Murder".
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Three for Bedroom C
Title: Three for Bedroom C
Character: Mrs. Agnes Hawthorne
Released: June 26, 1952
Type: Movie
After beginning their train trip to California, a famous film actress and her daughter discover their compartment has also been assigned to a handsome biology professor. Comedy.
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Title: Racket Squad
Released: June 7, 1951
Type: TV
Racket Squad is an American TV crime drama series starring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock, a fictional detective working for the San Francisco, California Police Department. The show aired in syndication for a season before being picked up by CBS for three seasons. The series was filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California, and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris, hence there was a pack of the sponsor's brand on Braddock's desk at the beginning and end of the episode, as well as occasional scenes of him or other characters "lighting up".
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Title: The Colgate Comedy Hour
Character: Self
Released: September 10, 1950
Type: TV
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
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Little Giant
Title: Little Giant
Character: Mrs. Hendrickson
Released: February 22, 1946
Type: Movie
Lou Costello plays a country bumpkin vacuum-cleaner salesman, working for the company run by the crooked Bud Abbott. To try to keep him under his thumb, Abbott convinces Costello that he's a crackerjack salesman. This comedy is somewhat like "The Time of Their Lives," in that Abbott and Costello don't have much screen time together and there are very few vaudeville bits woven into the plot.
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Sunset in El Dorado
Title: Sunset in El Dorado
Character: Aunt Dolly / Aunt Arabella
Released: September 29, 1945
Type: Movie
The story involves a rather odd flashback by Dale who is visiting El Dorado, home of her grandmother. She dreams about her grandmother's adventures including a romance with a cowboy who looks very much like Roy. Roy, of course, also exists in the present for Dale.
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Diamond Horseshoe
Title: Diamond Horseshoe
Character: Mrs. Standish
Released: May 2, 1945
Type: Movie
Joe Davis Sr., headliner at a big nightclub, is visited by medical student son Joe Jr., who to Dad's chagrin wants to be a crooner, and soon comes between Dad and his girlfriend Claire. So glamorous dancer Bonnie is enlisted to distract Junior. Which does Bonnie want more, the fur coat or true love? Plot is a framework for numerous Ziegfeld style stage productions.
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The Horn Blows at Midnight
Title: The Horn Blows at Midnight
Character: Mme. Traviata / Miss Rodholder
Released: April 28, 1945
Type: Movie
A trumpet player in a radio orchestra falls asleep during a commercial and dreams he's Athanael, an angel deputized to blow the Last Trumpet at exactly midnight on Earth, thus marking the end of the world.
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Bathing Beauty
Title: Bathing Beauty
Character: Mrs. Allenwood
Released: June 27, 1944
Type: Movie
After breaking up with her fiancé, a gym teacher returns to work at a women's college, but a legal loophole allows him to enroll as one of her students.
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Seven Days Ashore
Title: Seven Days Ashore
Character: Mrs. Croxton-Lynch
Released: April 25, 1944
Type: Movie
Circumstances force a womanizing playboy on leave from the Merchant Marine to ask two shipmates to help him by dating two surplus girlfriends.
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Up in Arms
Title: Up in Arms
Character: Mrs. Willoughby
Released: February 17, 1944
Type: Movie
Hypochondriac Danny Weems gets drafted and accidentally smuggles his girlfriend aboard his Pacific-bound troopship.
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The Dancing Masters
Title: The Dancing Masters
Character: Louise Harlan
Released: November 19, 1943
Type: Movie
The Dancing Masters is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film. The plot involves the team running a ballet school, and getting involved with an inventor. A young Robert Mitchum has an uncredited cameo role as a fraudulent insurance salesman.
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Rhythm Parade
Title: Rhythm Parade
Character: Ophelia MacDougal
Released: December 11, 1942
Type: Movie
A nightclub performer, jealous about the talents of an aspiring singer, tries to sabotage her chances at a professional career.
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Tales of Manhattan
Title: Tales of Manhattan
Character: Mme. Langehanke (uncredited)
Released: August 5, 1942
Type: Movie
Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.
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About Face
Title: About Face
Character: Mrs. Culpepper
Released: April 16, 1942
Type: Movie
Two Army sergeants disrupt a bar, a party and an Army-Navy dance.
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Sing Your Worries Away
Title: Sing Your Worries Away
Character: Flo Faulkner - Landlady
Released: March 6, 1942
Type: Movie
This package for comedy and the musical numbers has Luke Brown being drugged by the gangster operators of the swank Boathouse Inn; most notably Roxie a sexy pickpocket. Brown has information that Chow Brewster and his cousin have inherited $3,000,000. The owner of the Inn intends to keep Brown under wraps until they can drive Chow to suicide. He will then marry Chow's cousin before she finds out about her inheritance.
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Born to Sing
Title: Born to Sing
Character: Mrs. E. V. Lawson
Released: February 18, 1942
Type: Movie
A group of children put on a show in order to prove that a down and out musician was the real composer of a Broadway show's songs.
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Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Title: Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Character: Mrs. Hemogloben
Released: October 10, 1941
Type: Movie
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is a 1941 film about a man who wants to sell a film story to Esoteric Studios. On the way he gets insulted by little boys, beaten up for ogling a woman, and abused by a waitress. W. C. Fields' last starring role in a feature-length film.
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The Big Store
Title: The Big Store
Character: Martha Phelps
Released: June 20, 1941
Type: Movie
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
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For Beauty's Sake
Title: For Beauty's Sake
Character: Mrs. Franklin Evans
Released: June 6, 1941
Type: Movie
A woman-hater who inherits a beauty salon gets a new perspective on females after capturing a gang of thieves.
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At the Circus
Title: At the Circus
Character: Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury
Released: October 20, 1939
Type: Movie
Jeff Wilson, the owner of a small circus, owes his partner Carter $10,000. Before Jeff can pay, Carter's accomplices steal the money so he can take over the circus. Antonio Pirelli and Punchy, who work at the circus, together with lawyer Loophole try to find the thief and get the money back.
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Dramatic School
Title: Dramatic School
Character: Pantomime Teacher
Released: December 9, 1938
Type: Movie
Aspiring actress Louise Muban attends the prestigious Paris School of Drama during the day and works at a dreary factory assembling gas meters at night. She daydreams and "acts" her way through life, and her fellow students at school begin to suspect her stories are just that - fabrications. After Louise begins to weave an actual meeting with a debonair playboy into a fantasy of club dates and romance, her classmate Nana discovers the lie when she too meets the playboy. Nana sets a trap for Louise, and the result is an end to one fantasy and the realization of another.
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Wise Girl
Title: Wise Girl
Character: Mrs. Bell-Rivington
Released: December 31, 1937
Type: Movie
Snooty heiress decides to track down her dead sister's kids, who are living a Bohemian life with their uncle in Greenwich Village. Once she finds them, she discovers that the Bohemian life is fun and free of the constraints her country-club life places on her. But she decides to take the uncle to court anyway to free him from the kids so he can paint.
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High Flyers
Title: High Flyers
Character: Martha Arlington
Released: November 7, 1937
Type: Movie
Two men running a carnival airplane ride are hired to fly to retrieve what they think are photos for a reporter. Actually, they are retrieving diamonds stolen from a noted gem dealer. As it turns out, their plane crashes on the very estate of the dealer. Thinking the duo are police officers, the dealer offers his home for their convalescence from the accident. Meanwhile, the diamonds have been snatched by a kleptomaniac dog and buried on the estate. When the smugglers track down the pair, they try to convince the dealer that they are officials from an institution from which the two have escaped. Before long, the carnival fellows, the crooks, the gem dealer and his family, along with a platoon of cops, are tearing up the grounds to find where the dog has buried the diamonds.
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Youth on Parole
Title: Youth on Parole
Character: Mrs. Abernathy
Released: October 4, 1937
Type: Movie
Two strangers, a man and a woman, are framed for a jewel robbery and thrown in jail. After they get out, they join forces to track down the real thieves.
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The Life of the Party
Title: The Life of the Party
Character: Mrs. Penner
Released: September 3, 1937
Type: Movie
A singer finds another heir (Gene Raymond) to marry, to avoid the one (Joe Penner) her mother found.
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A Day at the Races
Title: A Day at the Races
Character: Emily Upjohn
Released: June 11, 1937
Type: Movie
Doctor Hugo Hackenbush, Tony, and Stuffy try and save Judy's farm by winning a big race with her horse. There are a few problems. Hackenbush runs a high priced clinic for the wealthy who don't know he has his degree in Veterinary Medicine.
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Song and Dance Man
Title: Song and Dance Man
Character: Mrs. Whitney
Released: March 11, 1936
Type: Movie
Julia and Hap are a dance team. He drinks and gambles, she succeeds for a while with the help of producer Alan.
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Anything Goes
Title: Anything Goes
Character: Mrs. Wentworth
Released: January 24, 1936
Type: Movie
A young man falls in love with a beautiful blonde. When he sees her being forced onto a luxury liner, he decides to follow and rescue her. However, he discovers that she is an English heiress who ran away from home and is now being returned to England. He also discovers that his boss is on the ship. To avoid discovery, he disguises himself as the gangster accomplice of a minister, who is actually a gangster on the run from the law.
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A Night at the Opera
Title: A Night at the Opera
Character: Mrs. Claypool
Released: November 15, 1935
Type: Movie
The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
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Rendezvous
Title: Rendezvous
Character: Mrs. Hendricks (uncredited)
Released: October 25, 1935
Type: Movie
A decoding expert tangles with enemy spies.
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Reckless
Title: Reckless
Character: Woman in Audience Yelling 'Get Off the Stage' (uncredited)
Released: April 19, 1935
Type: Movie
A theatrical star, born on the wrong side of the tracks, marries a drunken blue-blood millionaire.
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Gypsy Sweetheart
Title: Gypsy Sweetheart
Character: Mrs. Van Updyke
Released: March 30, 1935
Type: Movie
Tina, a singing Gypsy with a band of roving gypsies, is invited by Tom to come over to his mother's estate where a lawn party is in progress. She brings along her friends and a whole caravan of gypsies take over the green, telling fortunes, singing and dancing. Most of the comedy is supplied by the kleptomaniac butler, Bellingham, and his employer who humors his nutty ways...as good help seems to be hard to find.
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After Office Hours
Title: After Office Hours
Character: Mrs. Murchison (uncredited)
Released: February 22, 1935
Type: Movie
A managing editor sends a socialite reporter to spy on her boyfriend, mixed up in murder.
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Kentucky Kernels
Title: Kentucky Kernels
Character: Mrs. Baxter
Released: November 2, 1934
Type: Movie
The Great Elmer and Company, two out-of-work magicians, help lovelorn Jerry Bronson adopt Spanky Milford, to distract him. When Bronson makes up and elopes, the pair are stuck with the little boy. But Spanky inherits a Kentucky fortune, so they head south to Banesville, where the Milfords and Wakefields are conducting a bitter feud.
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Gridiron Flash
Title: Gridiron Flash
Character: Mrs. Fields
Released: October 6, 1934
Type: Movie
A college football team recruits a tough convict.
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Fifteen Wives
Title: Fifteen Wives
Character: Sybilla Crum
Released: July 15, 1934
Type: Movie
Shortly after his arrival from South America to New York, Steven Humbolt is found dead in his apartment at the Savoia Hotel. Inspector Decker Dawes investigates the case and although the cause of death is described as apoplexy, Dawes is convinced it as murder, especially after he learns that Humbolt had been married fifteen times.
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We're Rich Again
Title: We're Rich Again
Character: Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Released: July 13, 1934
Type: Movie
A polo-playing grandmother and her broke brood get back in the money with a Wall Street bet.
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Duck Soup
Title: Duck Soup
Character: Gloria Teasdale
Released: November 12, 1933
Type: Movie
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
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Storm at Daybreak
Title: Storm at Daybreak
Character: Duchess Sophie (uncredited)
Released: June 14, 1933
Type: Movie
Sarajevo June 28, 1914. Dushan, the Serbian mayor of a Hungarian town, has come to see the parade of Archduke Ferdinand. While there he runs into Geza, an old friend in the Hungarian Army and invites him to come to his house and visit him and his new wife.
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Wonderland of California
Title: Wonderland of California
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1933
Type: Movie
Short film made up of various clips showcasing the Cinecolor process, including a visit to a Marx Brothers film set.
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Here, Prince
Title: Here, Prince
Character: The Queen of Deleria (uncredited)
Released: October 1, 1932
Type: Movie
Joe Penner as a incompetent crown prince in the middle of a revolution.
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The Girl Habit
Title: The Girl Habit
Character: Blanche Ledyard
Released: June 27, 1931
Type: Movie
A Lothario tries to get arrested as protection from the gangster husband who has threatened him.
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Animal Crackers
Title: Animal Crackers
Character: Mrs. Rittenhouse
Released: August 8, 1930
Type: Movie
The well-known explorer and hunter Captain Spaulding has just returned from Africa, and is being welcomed home with a lavish party at the estate of influential society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse when a valuable painting goes missing. The intrepid Captain Spaulding attempts to solve the crime with the help of his silly secretary Horatio Jamison, while sparring with the anarchic Signor Emanuel Ravelli and his nutty sidekick The Professor.
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The Cocoanuts
Title: The Cocoanuts
Character: Mrs. Potter
Released: May 23, 1929
Type: Movie
During the Florida land boom, the Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land and thwart a jewel robbery.
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A Tale of Two Cities
Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Character: Aristocrat (uncredited)
Released: March 10, 1917
Type: Movie
At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Charles Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned former family servant. He is himself imprisoned and condemned by the revolutionary forces there. His wife, the former Lucie Manette, is secretly loved by a gentlemanly wastrel, Sydney Carton. Carton embarks on a daring plan to save the husband of the woman he loves.