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The Manicurist

For a long time one of the greatest mysteries in the Marx Brothers movies was the identity of the manicurist in the stateroom scene of "A Night at the Opera". Although the players of other uncredited parts in the scene had been identified over time, the manicurist evaded detection.

But In August 2026 the mystery was solved thanks to Robert Stryker, a member of the Marx Brothers Council on Facebook.

The manicurist was played by Jean E. Burt (26 Aug 1915 - 15 Feb 1981). She is also listed as "telephone operator in "A Day at the Races".

Robert found an application for an examination at the State Board of Cosmetology.

In a case of life imitating art (or was it the other way around), Jean Burt was never famous as an actress, but had a well-known career as a hairstylist in the movie industry. She was the head of the department at Warners and among other things, she was an Emmy winner. A picture of her in 1967 doing the hair of Petula Clark can be found here.

You can listen to an interview with Robert in this episode of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast

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Jean Burt appeared in the following movies:

Film Title	Character name
A Night at the Opera - 1935	Manicurist
A Day at the Races - 1937	Telephone Operator

This site uses material originally created by Frank Bland for his website Why A Duck?. Frank did kindly give me permission to use this material.

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