\"Although Groucho is best remembered as the master of devastating one-liners and zany misdemeanors, beneath the mustache and eyebrows was a man of intelligence and rare sensitivity. Charlotte Chandler knew both Grouchos--the public antihero of millions and the private person who would have been a hero to his valet, if he'd had one. In [this book], she adds her own highly personal recollections to the reminiscences of other friends of Groucho, some of whom knew him as far back as the [19th] century. Sometimes Groucho participated in these meetings and the reader shares in the rapport of witty conversations between Groucho and Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Jack Nicholson, Jack Benny, George Burns, and many others. She had the opportunity to share Groucho's daily life during his eighties. Their close personal friendship began with the interview she did with him for Playboy magazine. It continued during the next few years as she spent some time as his houseguest, ate breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with him and his friends, shopped with him, attended the Academy Awards with him and Erin Fleming, watched his films and the reruns of You Bet Your Life with him, drove with him to Palm Springs to visit Gummo and Zeppo, returned to his boyhood East Ninety-third Street home with him and was caught with him in the New York City 1974 Animal Crackers riot. Groucho told her, 'You know me better than I know me.' The controversial and often misunderstood relationship between Groucho and Erin Fleming is described with frankness and understanding. Groucho told Erin, 'Remember, I've given you the worst years of my life.' Included are rare stills from a 'lost' 1931 promotional film, along with its complete script, as well as many unpublished photographs from Groucho's career and his private life.\"--Jacket.