Harpo Marx | |
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.jpeg) Marxc. 1926 | |
| Born | Adolph Marx (1888-11-23)November 23, 1888 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 28, 1964(1964-09-28) (aged 75) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1910–1964 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, includingBill Marx |
| Parents | |
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Arthur "Harpo"Marx (bornAdolph Marx;[1] November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian andharpist, and the second-oldest of theMarx Brothers.[1] In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothersGroucho andChico, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example ofvaudeville,clown andpantomime traditions. In all of his movie appearances, he wore a curly reddish blonde wig and did not speak,[2] instead blowing a horn[3] or whistling[4] to communicate. Marx frequently employedprops[5] such as a horn cane constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn.[6]
Harpo was born on November 23, 1888, inManhattan, New York City.[7][8] He grew up in a neighborhood now known asCarnegie Hill (known at the time as Yorkville)[9] on theUpper East Side of Manhattan, onEast 93rd Street offLexington Avenue.[10] The turn-of-the-century tenement that Harpo later called "the first real home I can remember"[11] was situated in a neighborhood populated with European immigrants,[12] mostly artisans. The neighborhood hosted many historic homes and other buildings,[13] such as theWilliam Goadby Loew House (now the Spence School),[14] theCongregation Shaare Zedek,[15] and theVirginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt house.[16]
His parents wereSam Marx[17] (known by his nickname "Frenchie"/"Frenchy") and his wife,Minnie Schoenberg Marx,[18] sister of comedian and vaudeville performerAl Shean. Marx's family was Jewish. His mother was fromEast Frisia, Germany,[19] and his father, a tailor,[20][21] was fromAlsace, which was part of theSecond French Empire at the time the elder Marx was born and for most of his childhood.[22]
Harpo received little formal education and dropped out of New York Public School 86 at age eight (mainly due to bullying)[11] during his second attempt to pass the second grade. He began to work, gaining employment in numerous odd jobs alongside his older brotherChico to contribute to the family income, including selling newspapers, working in a butcher shop, and as an office errand boy.[23]
In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his younger brothers,Julius (later "Groucho") andMilton (later "Gummo"), to form "The Three Nightingales",[24] 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."[25]
Differing stories exist regarding the origin of the Harpostage name. The stories agree that the pseudonym originated during a card game at whichArt Fisher, the dealer that night, referred to Marx as "Harpo" because he played theharp.[11][26] The time and place of the game are disputed, however. In his autobiographyHarpo Speaks!, Harpo claims that it took place inRockford, Illinois. The most common version of the story places it at theOrpheum Theatre inGalesburg, 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.[27]
Harpo learned how to hold the harp by emulating a harp-playing angel in a picture he saw in afive-and-dime.[11] 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,[28] but that his method placed much less tension on the strings.[citation needed] Despite Harpo's musical talent, he never learned to read or write music.[28] Although he paid top musicians handsome fees to teach him "proper" harp-playing technique,[29] he maintained his unique style his entire life (his "teachers," fascinated by his technique, spent their sessions watching and listening as Marx performed).[11] The major exception wasMildred Dilling, the professional harpist who finally taught Harpo proper harp technique and collaborated with him regularly when he had difficulty composing.[30] Upon his death in 1964, one of Harpo's harps was donated to theState of Israel, and eventually found a home in an Israeli orchestra.[31]
Chico found Harpo some of his first jobs. He and Chico were co-workers, playing piano to accompanysilent films.[11] Unlike Chico, Harpo could play only two songs on the piano, "Waltz Me Around Again, Willie" and "Love Me and the World Is Mine",[32] 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" inA Day at the Races,[33] and played piano inA Night at the Opera.[34] Ultimately, he relinquished the piano to Chico in favor of his trademark harp, upon which he performedNacio Herb Brown's 1935 song "Alone", which was sung in the film byKitty Carlisle and Allan Jones.[35]
Harpo had changed his name from "Adolph", a name he disliked (as a child, he was routinely called "Ahdie" instead),[17] to "Arthur" by 1911.[36] The similarity to the name of prominent Chicago show business attorney Adolph Marks may have further encouraged the change.[37]Urban legends stating that the name change came about duringWorld War I due to anti-German sentiment in the US, or duringWorld War II because of the stigma thatAdolf Hitler imposed on the name, are groundless.[38]
His first screen appearance was in the filmHumor Risk (1921), with his brothers, although according to Groucho it was screened only once and thenlost.[39] Four years later, Harpo appeared without his brothers as the "Village Peter Pan" inToo Many Kisses[40] which predated the brothers' first collaborative film,The Cocoanuts,[41] by four years.[42] Not only isThe Cocoanuts historical by virtue of being the first of the Marx's manytalkies, but also for being the first film to feature anoverheadcamera shot, at least five years beforeBusby Berkeley's renowned[43][44][45][46] first use of the technique in his 1936 filmLullaby of Broadway to film akaleidoscopic women's dance routine.[47] InToo Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he would ever speak on-camera in a film: "You sure you can't move?"[48] (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.[49]
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,[50] as an alternative to a handshake[3] or simply to rest the leg.[3]
Harpo became known for prop-ladensight gags,[51][52][53] in particular the seeminglyinfinite number of odd things stored in histopcoat's oversized pockets.[54] In the filmHorse 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.[55] 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.[56] Also inHorse 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".[57] InDuck Soup, he produces a lit blowtorch to light a cigar.[58]
Harpo often used facial expressions[9] and mime[59] 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 withFun in Hi Skule, was known as "the Gookie".[60] 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.[11][61]
Harpo further distinguished his character by wearing a "fright wig".[62] Early in his career, it was dyed pink,[4] as evidenced by color film posters and by allusions to it in films, with character names such as "Pinky" inDuck 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.[63] Over time, he darkened the pink to more of a reddish color,[64] which films again alluded to with character names, such as the name of his character inA Night in Casablanca, "Rusty".[65]
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.[66] His brothers would make joking reference to this part of his act. For example, inAnimal Crackers, his character was ironically dubbed "The Professor".[67] InThe Cocoanuts, this exchange occurs:[68]
Who is this?
Atsa my partner, but he no speak
Oh, that's yoursilent partner!
In later films, Harpo was repeatedly put in situations where he attempted to convey a vital message by whistling and pantomime,[4] reinforcing the idea that his character was unable to speak.
The Marxes' filmAt the Circus (1939) contains a unique scene where Harpo is heard saying "A-choo!" twice, as he sneezes.[69]
In 1933, following U.S.diplomatic recognition of theSoviet Union, Harpo spent six weeks inMoscow as a performer and goodwill ambassador.[11] His tour was a huge success, and the show ran for six weeks.[11] Harpo's name was transliterated intoRussian, using theCyrillic alphabet, as "ХАРПО МАРКС," which is how he was billed during his Soviet Union appearances.[11] Harpo, having no knowledge of Russian, pronounced it as "Exapno Mapcase".[70] At that time, Harpo and theSoviet Foreign MinisterMaxim Litvinov became friends.[71]
During this time he served as a secret courier,[72] deliveringcommuniques to and from theUS embassy in Moscow at the request of AmbassadorWilliam Christian Bullitt Jr.,[73] smuggling the messages in and out of the Soviet Union by taping a sealed envelope to his leg beneath his trousers.[74][75] 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."[76]
In 1936, he rode an ostrich on a team ofpolo-playing film stars who appeared ascaricatures in theWalt Disney Production'sMickey's Polo Team, alongsideCharlie Chaplin andLaurel and Hardy.[77] Walt Disney would later feature Harpo (with Groucho and Chico) as one ofKing Cole's "Fiddlers Three" in theSilly SymphonyMother Goose Goes Hollywood.[78]Harpo was also caricatured inFleischer Studios'Popeye cartoonSock-A-Bye Baby (1934), in which Harpo's harp playing awakens Popeye's baby[79] resulting in Popeye punching Marx, apparently fatally (as suggested when Harpo develops a halo and ascends to the heavens).Friz Freleng's 1936Merrie Melodies cartoonThe 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 beGroucho.[80]
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.[81] Marx himself was the subject of a sketch bySalvador Dalí,[82] who was Harpo's friend and wrote the screenplayGiraffes on Horseback Salad.[83]
Harpo recorded an album of harp music forRCA Victor (Harp by Harpo, 1952) and two forMercury Records (Harpo in Hi-Fi, 1957;Harpo at Work, 1958).[84]
Harpo made television appearances through the 1950s and 60s, including a 1955 episode ofI Love Lucy, in which he andLucille Ball re-enacted the famous mirror scene fromDuck Soup.[85] Both Marx and Ball, clad in his typical clothes, portray Harpo.[86] He also appeared onNBC'sThe Martha Raye Show circa 1950.[87] Harpo and Chico appeared in the May 8, 1959, episode ofGeneral Electric Theater titled "The Incredible Jewelry Robbery" entirely inpantomime.[88] The episode concluded with a brief surprise appearance by Groucho. In 1960, Marx appeared in his first dramatic role, in an episode ofThe DuPont Show with June Allyson titled "A Silent Panic".[89] Harpo plays a deaf-mute who witnesses a gangland murder while working as a "mechanical man" in adepartment store window. In 1961, to publicize hisautobiographyHarpo Speaks!, he appeared onThe Today Show,[90]Play Your Hunch,[91]Candid Camera,[92]I've Got a Secret,[93]Here's Hollywood,Art Linkletter's House Party,[94] Groucho'sYou Bet Your Life,[95]The Ed Sullivan Show.[96]
In November 1961, he guest-starred withCarol Burnett in an installment ofThe DuPont Show of the Week titled "The Wonderful World of Toys".[97] The show was filmed inCentral Park[98] and featured Marx playing "Autumn Leaves" on the harp.[99] Other stars appearing in the episode includedEva Gabor,Audrey Meadows,Mitch Miller andMilton Berle.[98] A visit to the set inspired poetRobert Lowell to pen his poemHarpo Marx.[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 ofCBS'sThe Red Skelton Hour.[100] His final role, opposite show starFess Parker, was as himself on the October 20 episode, "Musicale", ofABC's sitcomMr. Smith Goes to Washington[101] (based onFrank Capra'sfilm of the same name).[102]
Harpo's September 28, 1936, marriage to actressSusan Fleming became public knowledge the next month due to a congratulatory telegram sent by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.[103] Harpo's marriage, like Gummo's, was lifelong[104] (Groucho was divorced three times,[105] Zeppo twice,[106][107] and Chico once[108]). The couple adopted four children:Bill, Alex, Jimmy, and Minnie.[109] When he was asked byGeorge 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."[110]
Harpo was good friends with theater criticAlexander Woollcott,[111] alongside whom he became a regular member of theAlgonquin Round Table.[112] He once said his main contribution was to be the audience for the quips of other members.[11] In their playThe Man Who Came to Dinner,George S. Kaufman andMoss Hart based the character of "Banjo" on Harpo.[113] Harpo later played the role in Los Angeles[114] opposite Woollcott, himself the inspiration for the character of Sheridan Whiteside.[115]
In 1961, Harpo published his autobiography,Harpo Speaks![11] Because he did not speak in any of his film appearances, many moviegoers believed he actually wasmute. In fact, radio and TV news recordings of his voice can be found on the Internet,[116] in documentaries,[117] and on bonus materials of Marx Brothers DVDs.[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 aNew York accent his entire life.[118] 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.[119]
Harpo expressed public support for Zionism and Israel since the 1940s.[120] He often appeared as a speaker at pro-Israel functions throughout the country. He visited Israel in 1963.[121]
Harpo's final public appearance came on January 19, 1963, when he announced his retirement, causing singer/comedianAllan Sherman to burst into tears.[122] ComedianSteve 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.[123] Allen remembered that although the audience found this rare speech from Harpo charmingly ironic, his personal opinion was that Harpo "wouldn't shut up!"[124] Harpo, an avidcroquet player, was inducted into theCroquet Hall of Fame in 1979.[125]
On September 26, 1964, Marx was admitted to theintensive care unit ofWest Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center inLos Angeles for a heart operation.
Marx died in the hospital after surgery on September 28, 1964, aged 75.[9] Harpo's death was said to have hit the surviving Marx brothers very hard. Groucho's sonArthur Marx, who attended the funeral with most of the Marx family,[126] later said that Harpo's funeral was the only time in his life that he ever saw his father cry.[123] In his will, Harpo Marx donated his trademark harp to the State ofIsrael,[61] where it was later used in an Israeli orchestra.[31] His remains were cremated[42] at theHollywood Forever Cemetery and a portion of his ashes were allegedly scattered in the sand trap at the 7th hole of a golf course inRancho Mirage, California.[citation needed]
Harpo's trademark outfit consisted of a trench coat with over-large pockets, red wig (he switched to a blond one for every film afterThe Cocoanuts because the red wig photographed dark in black-and-white), top hat, the comical horn heard in his movies,[110] 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.[124] His talent extended to piano and clarinet[127] (on which he playedWhen My Dreams Come True inThe Cocoanuts),[128] which, as he had with the harp, Harpo mostly learned independent of professional instruction.[129] 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.[130] In 2002, a Golden Palm Star on thePalm Springs, California,Walk of Stars, located at 190 E. Tahquitz Way, was dedicated to Harpo's memory.[131]
Marx was portrayed by the actor J. M. Henry in the 1994 filmMrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.[132]
Marx was portrayed by actor Daniel Fortus in the Broadway production ofMinnie's Boys, aBroadway musical that ran for 64 performances at theImperial Theatre from March to May 1970.[133] 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.[134]
ActressPriscilla Lopez played Gino,[135] a character based on Harpo,[136] in 1980's Broadway send-up of Hollywood filmmakingA 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.[137]
Les Marsden portrayed Harpo inGroucho: A Life in Revue,[138] written by Groucho's son, Arthur Marx, and Robert Fisher.[139] The play, held at theoff-BroadwayLucille Lortel Theatre, boasted a 264 show run from September 8, 1986, to May 3, 1987.[140]
| 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[39] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | TheEzio 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) |
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