Robert S. Bader

Robert S. Bader is the author of Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage (Northwestern University Press, 2016, 2022) and the editor of Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales (Faber & Faber, 1993 / Applause, 2011), an anthology of the comedian’s lost writings. He is also the coauthor of Speaking of Harpo (Applause, 2022), the autobiography of Harpo Marx's wife Susan Fleming Marx, and the author of Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother (Applause, 2024). Bader is also a filmmaker. His documentary Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (2018) examines Dick Cavett’s long relationship with Muhammad Ali. It premiered on HBO in 2020 and won a Critics Choice Documentary Award. As part of his ongoing work with The Dick Cavett Show archive, Bader has also produced Dick Cavett’s Watergate (2014) and Dick Cavett’s Vietnam (2015) for PBS. His latest film, Groucho & Cavett, premiered on the acclaimed PBS series American Masters in December 2022. Bader’s other credits include The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk (Warner Bros., 2007) and The Legendary Bing Crosby (PBS, 2009). His other Marx Brothers projects include a pair of DVD collections of Groucho’s television show You Bet Your Life and The Marx Brothers TV Collection, a DVD set of rare television appearances by the brothers. Bader has also appeared in Marx Brothers documentaries including Universal's Hollywood's Kings of Chaos in 2016, and the French production, Le folle histoire des Marx Brothers in 2015. He will also be seen in the forthcoming documentary, Buster Keaton: Home. Bader's radio credits include Westwood One Radio Network’s series The Lost Lennon Tapes, Little Steven’s Underground Garage and Bing’s Basement for Sirius XM Satellite Radio. He also manages intellectual property for several celebrity estates, including those of Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Al Hirschfeld, Rosemary Clooney, and the Marx Brothers.