Mar 3, 2006 By Jean Lohr For The 4 min read

Frank Ferrante, by his own admission, is living a wonderful life. While most actors rue reviews and the reviewers who write them, Ferrante has based a big part of his life’s work on them.

For more than 20 years, the California native has wowed national and international audiences alike with his personal portrayal of Groucho Marx in “Groucho: A Life in Review.”

“It all started when I was doing my senior project at USC (University of Southern California),” said Ferrante, who received a bachelor’s degree in theater. “I decided to do a retrospective on Groucho (Julius Henry) Marx (Oct. 2, 1890 to Aug. 19, 1977). I invited his son, Arthur, to attend.”

To Ferrante’s amazement, Arthur Marx was in the audience.

“After my performance, he said, ‘If ever I decide to do something with my father’s works, I want you to portray him.”‘

But Ferrante had already made his future plans.

“I had been accepted into producing school at UCLA,” he said.

Arthur Marx, however, had other ideas. Within a year of their first meeting, Ferrante and Marx had broken in the material before Kansas City audiences and Ferrante found himself center stage in the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theatre. The year was 1986.

The critics raved about Ferrante’s 254 performances. “Hilarious,” wrote the New York Post; “Brilliant” said The Today Show; “Artful” noted the New York Times.

Ferrante won New York’s Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award.

When he reprised the role in London, the response was the same.

“Groucho” was nominated for three Laurence Olivier Awards.

The show seemed to take on a life of its own. In 2001, 15 years later, Arthur Marx and Ferrante joined forces once again to produce “Groucho” as a national pledge program for PBS.

For Ferrante, “Groucho” has been a labor of love.

“I first discovered Groucho Marx as a child,” he said. “I found him wild … anti-establishment.

“In school we were taught the rules of society, but here were these brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Gummo and Zeppo) who were at their best breaking the rules. They were having a field day.”

Ferranti admits it was the universal appeal of this form of art – “and it is an art” – that got and has kept his attention.

“It’s an incredible, amazing role,” Ferrante said. “It covers the four stages of Groucho’s life – from his teen years to his 85th birthday.

“This role was a major break for me,” he said. “Imagine, one year after (college) graduation to be receiving adulation on Broadway. It was phenomenal.”

Ferrante said that “Groucho” has provided a great opportunity.

“I’ve learned to sing, to dance, to act and to improvise – to use a wide range of skills that feeds the other work I do – acting, directing and producing.

“It’s been a wonderful life. It inspired me to enter into the world of theater and to develop my own talents,” he said.

Though Ferrante said he is “no playwright,” he was commissioned to write and produce a piece about George S. Kaufman, the one-man play, “By George.”

Ferrante reprised the “Groucho” role in a revival of “The Cocoanuts,” in which the Marx Brothers originally starred. He won the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for his portrayal of Captain Spalding in “Animal Crackers” another Marx Brothers original.

Other roles include supporting roles in “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” and “Perfect Wedding,” as well as lead roles in “The Odd Couple,” “The Sunshine Boys,” “Lady in the Dark” and “Anything Goes.”

Arthur Marx, now 85 and living in Los Angeles, and Ferrante continue to collaborate on projects.

“He is one of my best friends,” said Ferrantie of the man who introduced him to the Broadway stage more than 20 years ago.