Harpo Marx
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Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx;<ref name="AllMusic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers.<ref name="AllMusic" /> In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of vaudeville, clown and pantomime traditions. In all of his movie appearances, he wore a curly reddish blonde wig and did not speak,<ref name="JewishLibrary">Template:Cite book</ref> instead blowing a horn<ref name="Kostenbaum">Template:Cite book</ref> or whistling<ref name="NYTimes">Template:Cite news</ref> to communicate. Marx frequently employed props<ref name="OscarsSuitcase">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> such as a horn cane constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn.<ref name="HarposPlaceEphemera">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early lifeEdit
Harpo was born on November 23, 1888, in Manhattan, New York City.<ref name="BritannicaBio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="HarpoPassport">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill (known at the time as Yorkville)<ref name="NYTimes2">Template:Cite news</ref> on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue.<ref name="NYTimesChildhoodHome">Template:Cite news</ref> The turn-of-the-century tenement that Harpo later called "the first real home I can remember"<ref name="speaks" /> was situated in a neighborhood populated with European immigrants,<ref name="OttBiography">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> mostly artisans. The neighborhood hosted many historic homes and other buildings,<ref name="NYTimes93Street">Template:Cite news</ref> such as the William Goadby Loew House (now the Spence School),<ref name="Spence">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Congregation Shaare Zedek,<ref name="ShaareZedek">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt house.<ref name="VanderbiltHouse">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
His parents were Sam Marx<ref name="Louvish">Template:Cite book</ref> (known by his nickname "Frenchie"/"Frenchy") and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx,<ref name="WSJMinnie">Template:Cite news</ref> sister of comedian and vaudeville performer Al Shean. Marx's family was Jewish. His mother was from East Frisia, Germany,<ref name="Guardian">Template:Cite news</ref> and his father, a tailor,<ref name="MinnieNYTObit">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AMGEveningGroucho">{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000206727{{
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}}</ref> was from Alsace, which was part of the Second French Empire at the time the elder Marx was born and for most of his childhood.<ref name="SamMarxMarriageLicense">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo received little formal education and dropped out of New York Public School 86 at age eight (mainly due to bullying)<ref name="speaks"/> during his second attempt to pass the second grade. He began to work, gaining employment in numerous odd jobs alongside his older brother Chico to contribute to the family income, including selling newspapers, working in a butcher shop, and as an office errand boy.<ref>Marx 1961, pp. 17–19</ref>
CareerEdit
On stageEdit
In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his younger brothers, Julius (later "Groucho") and Milton (later "Gummo"), to form "The Three Nightingales",<ref name="LOC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which would later be renamed "The Marx Brothers". Multiple unverified stories attempt to explain Harpo's evolution as the "silent" character in the brothers' act. In his memoir, Groucho wrote that Harpo simply was not very good at memorizing dialogue, and thus was ideal to portray the archetypal vaudeville role of the "dunce who couldn't speak."<ref>Marx, Groucho (1959). Groucho And Me. Da Capo Press. Template:ISBN, p. 46.</ref>
Differing stories exist regarding the origin of the Harpo stage name. The stories agree that the pseudonym originated during a card game at which Art Fisher, the dealer that night, referred to Marx as "Harpo" because he played the harp.<ref name="speaks">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Mitchell p169">Mitchell 1996, p. 169</ref> The time and place of the game are disputed, however. In his autobiography Harpo Speaks!, Harpo claims that it took place in Rockford, Illinois. The most common version of the story places it at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois. However, this version of events is disputed, at least partially because the Orpheum Theatre was not constructed until late 1916, whereas Harpo later remembered acquiring the name in 1914. In addition, Fisher is believed to have left vaudeville in 1912. Some sources give an earlier date for its origin and suggest the game may have instead taken place at the Galesburg Auditorium Theatre or the same town's Gaiety Theatre.<ref name= "GalesburgCardGame">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo learned how to hold the harp by emulating a harp-playing angel in a picture he saw in a five-and-dime.<ref name="speaks" /> No one in town knew how to play the harp, so Harpo tuned it as best he could, starting with one basic note and tuning it from there. He began learning to play the instrument without lessons. Three years later, he found out he had tuned it incorrectly,<ref name="TelegraphTenThings">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore</ref> but that his method placed much less tension on the strings.Template:Citation needed Despite Harpo's musical talent, he never learned to read or write music.<ref name="TelegraphTenThings" /> Although he paid top musicians handsome fees to teach him "proper" harp-playing technique,<ref name= "WoollcottVanityFair">Template:Cite magazine</ref> he maintained his unique style his entire life (his "teachers," fascinated by his technique, spent their sessions watching and listening as Marx performed).<ref name= "speaks"/> The major exception was Mildred Dilling, the professional harpist who finally taught Harpo proper harp technique and collaborated with him regularly when he had difficulty composing.<ref name="DillingNYT">Template:Cite news</ref> Upon his death in 1964, one of Harpo's harps was donated to the State of Israel, and eventually found a home in an Israeli orchestra.<ref name="IsraeliHarpDonation">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chico found Harpo some of his first jobs. He and Chico were co-workers, playing piano to accompany silent films.<ref name= "speaks" /> Unlike Chico, Harpo could play only two songs on the piano, "Waltz Me Around Again, Willie" and "Love Me and the World Is Mine",<ref name="WollcottOnHarposHarp">Template:Cite magazine</ref> but he adapted this small repertoire in different tempos to suit the action on the screen. He was also seen playing a portion of Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C# minor" in A Day at the Races,<ref name="BrownHelloGoodbye">Template:Cite book</ref> and played piano in A Night at the Opera.<ref name= "DissolveTobias">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ultimately, he relinquished the piano to Chico in favor of his trademark harp, upon which he performed Nacio Herb Brown's 1935 song "Alone", which was sung in the film by Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones.<ref name= "IMDbNigtAtOperaSoundtrack">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo had changed his name from "Adolph", a name he disliked (as a child, he was routinely called "Ahdie" instead),<ref name="Louvish" /> to "Arthur" by 1911.<ref name= "IndependentNameChange">Template:Cite news</ref> The similarity to the name of prominent Chicago show business attorney Adolph Marks may have further encouraged the change.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Urban legends stating that the name change came about during World War I due to anti-German sentiment in the US, or during World War II because of the stigma that Adolf Hitler imposed on the name, are groundless.<ref name="TIFONicknames">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On filmEdit
His first screen appearance was in the film Humor Risk (1921), with his brothers, although according to Groucho it was screened only once and then lost.<ref name="HarposPlace2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Four years later, Harpo appeared without his brothers as the "Village Peter Pan" in Too Many Kisses<ref name="PreservationSocietyTooManyKisses">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which predated the brothers' first collaborative film, The Cocoanuts,<ref name="DeezenCocoanuts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> by four years.<ref name="IMDbMain">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Not only is The Cocoanuts historical by virtue of being the first of the Marx's many talkies, but also for being the first film to feature an overhead camera shot, at least five years before Busby Berkeley's renowned<ref name="RubinBusby">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="BeltonBusby">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="JablonskiBusby">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="BroadusBusby">Template:Cite news</ref> first use of the technique in his 1936 film Lullaby of Broadway to film a kaleidoscopic women's dance routine.<ref name="DeezenHomepageCocoanuts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Too Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he would ever speak on-camera in a film: "You sure you can't move?"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (said to the film's tied-up hero before punching him). Fittingly, it was a silent film, and the audience saw only his lips move and the line on a title card.<ref name="LATimesKissesSpeaking">Template:Cite news</ref>
Harpo was often cast as Chico's eccentric partner-in-crime, whom he would often help by playing charades to tell of Groucho's problem, and/or annoy by giving Chico his leg,<ref name="Vulture">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as an alternative to a handshake<ref name="Kostenbaum" /> or simply to rest the leg.<ref name="Kostenbaum" />
Harpo became known for prop-laden sight gags,<ref name="IYMBillMarxInterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NMAH">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="FlaigLacansHarpo">Template:Cite journal</ref> in particular the seemingly infinite number of odd things stored in his topcoat's oversized pockets.<ref name="HarposPlace">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the film Horse Feathers (1932), Groucho, referring to an impossible situation, tells Harpo that he cannot "burn the candle at both ends". Harpo immediately produces from within his coat pocket a lit candle burning at both ends.<ref name="WoodHorsefeathersQuote">Template:Cite news</ref> In the same film, a homeless man on the street asks Harpo for money for a cup of coffee, and he subsequently produces a steaming cup, complete with saucer, from inside his coat.<ref name="VFMarxRevival">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Also in Horse Feathers, he has a fish and a sword, and when he wants to go to his speakeasy, he stabs the fish in its mouth with his sword to give the password, "Swordfish".<ref name="RearviewMirror">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Duck Soup, he produces a lit blowtorch to light a cigar.<ref name="BWDRCigarBit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo often used facial expressions<ref name="NYTimes2" /> and mime<ref name="NYPL">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> to get his point across instead of speaking. One of his facial expressions, which he used in every Marx Brothers film and stage play, beginning with Fun in Hi Skule, was known as "the Gookie".<ref name="BoingBoingGookie">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harpo created it by mimicking the expression of Mr. Gehrke, a New York tobacconist who would make a similar face while concentrating on rolling cigars.<ref name="speaks"/><ref name="Mitchell">Template:Cite book</ref>
Harpo further distinguished his character by wearing a "fright wig".<ref name="WillisteanFrightWig">Template:Cite news</ref> Early in his career, it was dyed pink,<ref name="NYTimes" /> as evidenced by color film posters and by allusions to it in films, with character names such as "Pinky" in Duck Soup. This wig sometimes appeared blond on-screen due to black-and-white film stock. In some films, however, Harpo actually wore a blonde wig.<ref name="SmithsonianBlondeWig">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Over time, he darkened the pink to more of a reddish color,<ref name="NYTimesBooks2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which films again alluded to with character names, such as the name of his character in A Night in Casablanca, "Rusty".<ref name="CasablancaIMDb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
His non-speaking in his early films was occasionally referred to by the other Marx Brothers, who were careful to imply that his character's not speaking was a choice rather than a disability. In reality, the decision to remain silent began when Harpo received a negative review, part of which suggested that Harpo's portrayal of a fool was convincing only until he spoke. Soon after, the Brothers' uncle shared with Harpo a script he had written for them. Harpo was dismayed to find he had just three lines and said to his uncle, "Well, maybe I won't talk at all!" This was meant sarcastically, but his uncle genuinely liked the idea.<ref name="NeatoramaSilenceOrigin">Template:Cite news</ref> His brothers would make joking reference to this part of his act. For example, in Animal Crackers, his character was ironically dubbed "The Professor".<ref name="RomeSentinel">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In The Cocoanuts, this exchange occurs:<ref name="MBdotORGWhyADuck">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In later films, Harpo was repeatedly put in situations where he attempted to convey a vital message by whistling and pantomime,<ref name="NYTimes" /> reinforcing the idea that his character was unable to speak.
The Marxes' film At the Circus (1939) contains a unique scene where Harpo is heard saying "A-choo!" twice, as he sneezes.<ref name="StaticMass">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tour in the Soviet UnionEdit
In 1933, following U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union, Harpo spent six weeks in Moscow as a performer and goodwill ambassador.<ref name="speaks" /> His tour was a huge success, and the show ran for six weeks.<ref name="speaks" /> Harpo's name was transliterated into Russian, using the Cyrillic alphabet, as "ХАРПО МАРКС," which is how he was billed during his Soviet Union appearances.<ref name="speaks" /> Harpo, having no knowledge of Russian, pronounced it as "Exapno Mapcase".<ref name="CroquetWorld">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At that time, Harpo and the Soviet Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov became friends.<ref>Template:Cite podcast</ref>
During this time he served as a secret courier,<ref name="USDOS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> delivering communiques to and from the US embassy in Moscow at the request of Ambassador William Christian Bullitt Jr.,<ref name="HarpoSpyModernRogue">Template:Cite news</ref> smuggling the messages in and out of the Soviet Union by taping a sealed envelope to his leg beneath his trousers.<ref name="FromkinBook">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Timespy">Template:Cite news</ref> Marx recounted his relief at his voyage's end: "I pulled up my pants, ripped off the tape, unwound the straps, handed over the dispatches from Ambassador Bullitt, and gave my leg its first scratch in ten days."<ref>Marx 1961, p. 336.</ref>
In other mediaEdit
In 1936, he rode an ostrich on a team of polo-playing film stars who appeared as caricatures in the Walt Disney Production's Mickey's Polo Team, alongside Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.<ref name="DisneyPoloTeam">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Walt Disney would later feature Harpo (with Groucho and Chico) as one of King Cole's "Fiddlers Three" in the Silly Symphony Mother Goose Goes Hollywood.<ref name="IMDbMotherGoose">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harpo was also caricatured in Fleischer Studios' Popeye cartoon Sock-A-Bye Baby (1934), in which Harpo's harp playing awakens Popeye's baby <ref name="IMDbSockABye">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> resulting in Popeye punching Marx, apparently fatally (as suggested when Harpo develops a halo and ascends to the heavens). Friz Freleng's 1936 Merrie Melodies cartoon The Coo-Coo Nut Grove caricatured Harpo, one of multiple celebrities appearing as an animal, as a bird with a red beak who chases a "woman" who is later revealed to be Groucho.<ref name="BerkeleyCooCooNutGrove">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo also took an interest in painting. Some of his works can be seen in his autobiography, in which he recalls having tried to paint a nude female model, but that he had frozen up because he simply did not know how to paint properly. The model, pitying Marx, taught him some basic brush strokes. Eventually, the original project was abandoned in lieu of a painting, by the model herself, of a fully-clothed Harpo.<ref>Marx 1961, pp. 204–205.</ref> Marx himself was the subject of a sketch by Salvador Dalí,<ref name="PMoA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> who was Harpo's friend and wrote the screenplay Giraffes on Horseback Salad.<ref name="NPRDali">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo recorded an album of harp music for RCA Victor (Harp by Harpo, 1952) and two for Mercury Records (Harpo in Hi-Fi, 1957; Harpo at Work, 1958).<ref name="Discogs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo made television appearances through the 1950s and 60s, including a 1955 episode of I Love Lucy, in which he and Lucille Ball re-enacted the famous mirror scene from Duck Soup.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0609287
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}} Template:Trim] at {{#if: | IMDb | IMDb }}Template:EditAtWikidata{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb title with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | 3 | description | id | link_hide | qid | quotes | title }}{{#switch: {{#invoke:String2|matchAny|^tt.........|^tt.......|tt|.........|source=0609287|plain=false}}| 1 | 3 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning| 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning}}{{#if: 0609287 {{#property:P345}} || Template:Preview warningTemplate:Main other }}{{#switch: Template:Wikidata
| Q21191270 | Q21664088 | Q50062923 | Q50914552 | Q99079902 | Q123186929 | Q55422400 | Q61220733 =Template:Preview warning | Q3464665 =Template:Preview warning }}{{#ifeq: Template:Wikidata | Q21191270 |Template:Preview warning }}{{#if: 0609287 | Template:WikidataCheck }}</ref> Both Marx and Ball, clad in his typical clothes, portray Harpo.<ref name="CBSLucy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also appeared on NBC's The Martha Raye Show circa 1950.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harpo and Chico appeared in the May 8, 1959, episode of General Electric Theater titled "The Incredible Jewelry Robbery" entirely in pantomime.<ref name="TVComGenElectric">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The episode concluded with a brief surprise appearance by Groucho. In 1960, Marx appeared in his first dramatic role, in an episode of The DuPont Show with June Allyson titled "A Silent Panic".<ref name="HagleySilentPanic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harpo plays a deaf-mute who witnesses a gangland murder while working as a "mechanical man" in a department store window. In 1961, to publicize his autobiography Harpo Speaks!, he appeared on The Today Show,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Play Your Hunch,<ref name="MervMemoir">Template:Cite book</ref> Candid Camera,<ref name="TVGuide121760">Template:Cite journal</ref> I've Got a Secret,<ref name="SecretIMDb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Here's Hollywood, Art Linkletter's House Party,<ref name="TVComHouseParty">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref> Groucho's You Bet Your Life,<ref name="SparkBetYourLife">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Ed Sullivan Show.<ref name="GettyEdSullivan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In November 1961, he guest-starred with Carol Burnett in an installment of The DuPont Show of the Week titled "The Wonderful World of Toys".<ref name="PaleyDupont">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The show was filmed in Central Park<ref name="IMDbDupont">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and featured Marx playing "Autumn Leaves" on the harp.<ref name="TVComDupont">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other stars appearing in the episode included Eva Gabor, Audrey Meadows, Mitch Miller and Milton Berle.<ref name="IMDbDupont" /> A visit to the set inspired poet Robert Lowell to pen his poem Harpo Marx.Template:Citation needed
Late 1962 brought Harpo's final pair of television appearances, which aired within a month of each other. He portrayed a guardian angel on the September 25 episode of CBS's The Red Skelton Hour.<ref name="PaleyRedSkelton">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His final role, opposite show star Fess Parker, was as himself on the October 20 episode, "Musicale", of ABC's sitcom Mr. Smith Goes to Washington<ref name="NJComMarxTVCollectionDVD">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (based on Frank Capra's film of the same name).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Personal lifeEdit
Harpo's September 28, 1936, marriage to actress Susan Fleming became public knowledge the next month due to a congratulatory telegram sent by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.<ref name="NYTimesMarriage">Template:Cite news</ref> Harpo's marriage, like Gummo's, was lifelong<ref name="SusanMarxObitLATimes">Template:Cite news</ref> (Groucho was divorced three times,<ref name="GrouchoElderAbusePBS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Zeppo twice,<ref name="BarbaraSinatraAffairNatPost">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="DailyNewsMarionDivorce">Template:Cite news</ref> and Chico once<ref name="NYTimesZeppoDivorce">Template:Cite news</ref>). The couple adopted four children: Bill, Alex, Jimmy, and Minnie.<ref name="BeaconAdoptedChildren">Template:Cite news</ref> When he was asked by George Burns in 1948 how many children he planned to adopt, he answered, "I'd like to adopt as many children as I have windows in my house. So when I leave for work, I want a kid in every window, waving goodbye."<ref name="TIFOClothing">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo was good friends with theater critic Alexander Woollcott,<ref name="LongreadsMarxAndWoollcott">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> alongside whom he became a regular member of the Algonquin Round Table.<ref name="BritannicaAlgonquin">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He once said his main contribution was to be the audience for the quips of other members.<ref name="speaks" /> In their play The Man Who Came to Dinner, George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart based the character of "Banjo" on Harpo.<ref name="AZTheaterManWhoCametoDinner">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harpo later played the role in Los Angeles<ref name="LATimesDinner">Template:Cite news</ref> opposite Woollcott, himself the inspiration for the character of Sheridan Whiteside.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1961, Harpo published his autobiography, Harpo Speaks! <ref name="speaks" /> Because he did not speak in any of his film appearances, many moviegoers believed he actually was mute. In fact, radio and TV news recordings of his voice can be found on the Internet,<ref name="YTVoice">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in documentaries,<ref name="NastasiHarpoVoice">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and on bonus materials of Marx Brothers DVDs.Template:Citation needed A reporter who interviewed him in the early 1930s wrote that Harpo "had a deep and distinguished voice, like a professional announcer", and like his brothers, spoke with a New York accent his entire life.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> According to those who personally knew him, Harpo's voice was much deeper than Groucho's, but it also sounded very similar to Chico's. His son, Bill, recalled that in private, Harpo had a very deep and mature soft-spoken voice, but that he was "not verbose" like the other Marx brothers, instead preferring to listen and learn from others.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Harpo expressed public support for Zionism and Israel since the 1940s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He often appeared as a speaker at pro-Israel functions throughout the country. He visited Israel in 1963.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harpo's final public appearance came on January 19, 1963, when he announced his retirement, causing singer/comedian Allan Sherman to burst into tears.<ref name="PBSBillMarx">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Comedian Steve Allen, who was in the audience, remembered that Harpo spoke for several minutes about his career, and how he would miss it all, and repeatedly interrupted Sherman when he tried to speak.<ref name="attic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Allen remembered that although the audience found this rare speech from Harpo charmingly ironic, his personal opinion was that Harpo "wouldn't shut up!"<ref name=colvin>Template:Cite journal</ref> Harpo, an avid croquet player, was inducted into the Croquet Hall of Fame in 1979.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DeathEdit
On September 26, 1964, Marx was admitted to the intensive care unit of West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Los Angeles for a heart operation.
Marx died in the hospital after surgery on September 28, 1964, aged 75.<ref name="NYTimes2" /> Harpo's death was said to have hit the surviving Marx brothers very hard. Groucho's son Arthur Marx, who attended the funeral with most of the Marx family,<ref name="NYTFuneral">Template:Cite news</ref> later said that Harpo's funeral was the only time in his life that he ever saw his father cry.<ref name="attic" /> In his will, Harpo Marx donated his trademark harp to the State of Israel,<ref name="Mitchell" /> where it was later used in an Israeli orchestra.<ref name="IsraeliHarpDonation" /> His remains were cremated<ref name="IMDbMain" /> at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and a portion of his ashes were allegedly scattered in the sand trap at the 7th hole of a golf course in Rancho Mirage, California.Template:Citation needed
LegacyEdit
Harpo's trademark outfit consisted of a trench coat with over-large pockets, red wig (he switched to a blond one for every film after The Cocoanuts because the red wig photographed dark in black-and-white), top hat, the comical horn heard in his movies,<ref name="TIFOClothing" /> and his ever-present harp. In time, his talent earned him an international reputation as he performed in films as well as in stage shows around the globe.<ref name=colvin/> His talent extended to piano and clarinet<ref name="HarpJournal">Template:Cite journal</ref> (on which he played When My Dreams Come True in The Cocoanuts),<ref name="DiscogsCocoanuts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which, as he had with the harp, Harpo mostly learned independent of professional instruction.<ref name="HarposPlaceBio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Marx's son Bill went on to display his own musical abilities, performing his own compositions on piano live in concert alongside harpist Carrol McLaughlin.<ref name="MorningCallBillMarxMusic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2002, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars, located at 190 E. Tahquitz Way, was dedicated to Harpo's memory.<ref name="PalmSpringsStar">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Media portrayalsEdit
Marx was portrayed by the actor J. M. Henry in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Marx was portrayed by actor Daniel Fortus in the Broadway production of Minnie's Boys, a Broadway musical that ran for 64 performances at the Imperial Theatre from March to May 1970.<ref name="MinniesBoysIMDb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The show focused on the early days of the Marx Brothers' act and the importance of their mother Minnie's strong hand in guiding and molding them into a successful vaudeville and film comedy team.<ref name="MinniesBoysPlot">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Actress Priscilla Lopez played Gino,<ref name="PLopezPlaybill">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> a character based on Harpo,<ref name="NYTDayInHollywood">Template:Cite news</ref> in 1980's Broadway send-up of Hollywood filmmaking A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. This role earned Lopez a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical.<ref name="PriscillaLopezBio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Les Marsden portrayed Harpo in Groucho: A Life in Revue,<ref name="BaltimoreGrouchoRevue">Template:Cite news</ref> written by Groucho's son, Arthur Marx, and Robert Fisher.<ref name="NYTGrouchoRevue">Template:Cite news</ref> The play, held at the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theatre, boasted a 264 show run from September 8, 1986, to May 3, 1987.<ref name="IOBDGrouchoRevue">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
References in other mediaEdit
FilmographyEdit
FilmEdit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | Humor Risk | Watson | Short, lost |
| 1925 | Too Many Kisses | The Village Peter Pan | |
| 1929 | The Cocoanuts | Harpo | |
| 1930 | Animal Crackers | The Professor | |
| 1931 | The House That Shadows Built | The Merchant of Wieners | |
| 1931 | Monkey Business | Harpo | |
| 1932 | Hollywood on Parade, #A-5 | Himself | Short |
| 1932 | Horse Feathers | Pinky | |
| 1932 | Hollywood on Parade, #11 | Himself | Short |
| 1933 | Duck Soup | Pinky | |
| 1935 | A Night at the Opera | Tomasso | |
| 1935 | La Fiesta de Santa Barbara | Himself | Short |
| 1937 | A Day at the Races | Stuffy | |
| 1938 | Room Service | Faker Englund | |
| 1939 | At the Circus | 'Punchy' | |
| 1940 | Go West | 'Rusty' Panello | |
| 1941 | The Big Store | Wacky | |
| 1943 | Stage Door Canteen | Harpo Marx | |
| 1945 | All Star Bond Rally | Himself | |
| 1946 | A Night in Casablanca | Rusty | |
| 1949 | Love Happy | Harpo | |
| 1957 | The Story of Mankind | Sir Isaac Newton | |
| 1962 | Got It Made | lost<ref name="HarposPlace2" /> |
TVEdit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | The Ezio Pinza Show | Himself - Comic Actor | 1 episode |
| 1952-1953 | All Star Revue | Himself | 3 episodes |
| 1953 | Season's Greetings | Himself | TV movie |
| 1954 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Governor | Episode: "Revenge with Music" |
| 1955 | I Love Lucy | Himself | Episode: "Harpo Marx" |
| 1957 | Playhouse 90 | The Jinx | Episode: "Snowshoes: A Comedy of People and Horses" |
| 1958 | The DuPont Show of the Month | Narrator - Harpist | Episode: "The Red Mill" |
| 1959 | General Electric Theater | Nick | Episode: "The Incredible Jewel Robbery" |
| 1960 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Benson | Episode: "A Silent Panic" |
| 1961 | The DuPont Show of the Week | Himself | Episode: "The Wonderful World of Toys" |
| 1962 | The Red Skelton Hour | Guardian Angel | Episode: "Somebody Up There Should Stay There" |
| 1962 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Himself | Episode: "The Musicale" (final appearance) |
DiscographyEdit
- 1952 Harp by Harpo
- 1957 Harpo
- 1958 Harpo at Work!
- 1964 Mahalia Jackson - Let's Pray Together (harp accompanist on "Guardian Angels")
BibliographyEdit
- 1961 Harpo Speaks!
- 2000 Harpo Speaks ...About New York (the first two chapters of the above, repackaged)
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Adamson, Joe (1973). Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo: A Celebration of the Marx Brothers. New York: Simon & Schuster. Template:ISBN
- Marx, Harpo (1961). Harpo Speaks!. New York: B. Geis Associates; New York: Limelight Editions, 1985. Template:ISBN
- Mitchell, Glenn (1996). The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. Template:ISBN
- Koestenbaum, Wayne (2012). The Anatomy of Harpo Marx. Berkeley: University of California Press. Template:ISBN
- Fix, Charlene (2013) Harpo Marx asTrickster. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Publishers Inc. Template:ISBN
External linksEdit
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