Harpo Marx

Arthur "Harpo" Marx
File:Harpomarx1.jpg Harpo playing the harp in Monkey Business
Born	(1888-11-23)November 23, 1888 New York, New York
Died	September 28, 1964(1964-09-28) (aged 75) Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Comedian, Actor, Mime
Known for	"Duck Soup," "A Night at the Opera"
Spouse	Susan Fleming
Children	Bill Marx, Alex Marx, Jimmie Marx, Minnie Marx
Parent(s)	Minnie Schoenberg and Sam "Frenchie" Marx
Relatives	Al Shean, Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, Gummo Marx, Zeppo Marx

This article is about Harpo Marx. For the writer Arthur Marx, son of Groucho, see Arthur Marx.

Arthur Marx (previously Adolph Marx), popularly known as Harpo Marx, (November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was one of the Marx Brothers, a group of Vaudeville and Broadway theatre entertainers who later achieved fame as comedians in the Motion Picture industry. He was well known by his trademarks: he played the harp; he never talked during performances, although he often blew a horn or whistled to communicate with people; and he frequently used props. He was always a great comic relief until he brought each film's plot progression to a screeching halt by waisting ten minutes playing his damn harp.

Early life and career

In January of 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius (later "Groucho") and Milton, to form "The Three Nightingales". Harpo was inspired to develop his "silent" routine after reading a review of one of their performances which had been largely ad-libbed. The theater critic wrote, "Adolph Marx performed beautiful pantomime which was ruined whenever he spoke."

Harpo got his stage name during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois: the dealer (Art Fisher) called him "Harpo" because he played the harp. His other brothers were given names to match their personalities or hobbies; Leonard became "Chicko" (Chico) because he was always chasing women ("chicks"); Julius became "Groucho" because of his "grouch bag" (a pocketbook with a hidden money compartment); and his brother Milton became "Gummo" because he wore gum-soled shoes.

He taught himself to play the harp because he could not sing, or dance, and did not talk very well, so he needed something to do. Al Shean sent him a harp (in Harpo's autobiography, he says that mother Minnie Marx sent him the harp), and Harpo learned how to hold it properly by going to a five-and-dime store where he found a picture of a girl playing a harp. 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. Three years later he found out he had tuned it incorrectly, but he could not tune it properly because if he had, the strings would have broken each night. His way placed much less tension on the strings. Although he played this way for the rest of his life, he did try to learn how to play correctly, and he spent considerable money hiring the best teachers. They, however, spent their time listening to him, fascinated by the way he played. In the movies he is actually playing the harp with his own alternate tuning.

In his autobiography, Harpo recounts how Chico got him jobs playing piano to accompany silent movies. Unlike Chico, Harpo could only play two songs on the piano, Waltz Me Around Again, Willie and Love Me and the World Is Mine, but he adapted this small repertoire in different tempos to suit the action on the screen. He was also seen playing chords on the piano in A Night at the Opera, in such a way that the piano sounded much like a harp, as a prelude to actually playing the harp in that scene.

Harpo changed his name from Adolph to Arthur by 1911. This was due primarily to his dislike for the name Adolph (as a child, he was routinely called "Ahdie" instead). Urban legends to the effect that the name change came about during World War I (due to anti-German sentiment in the US) or during World War II (due to the stigma that Adolf Hitler imposed on the name) are groundless.[1]

In film

He appeared without his brothers in Too Many Kisses, four years before the brothers' first widely-released film, The Cocoanuts. In Too Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he would ever speak on-camera in a movie: "You sure you can't move?" Fittingly, it was a silent movie, and the audience only saw his lips move and saw the line on a title card.

In the Marx Brothers' movie At the Circus, however, Harpo spoke in a movie with the brothers for the one and only time. In the scene in which he visits the room of Little Professor Atom (Jerry Marenghi), Harpo sneezes--clearly saying "At-choo!"

Harpo gained notoriety for prop-laden sight gags. In Horse Feathers, Groucho tells him that Harpo cannot "burn the candle at both ends." He immediately produces, from within his coat, a lit candle burning at both ends. (As author Joe Adamson put it his book, "Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo": "The president of the college has been shouted down by a mute.")

His non-speaking in films was occasionally referenced by the other Marx Brothers, who were careful to imply that his character's not speaking was a choice rather than a disability. They would make joking reference to this part of his act. For example, in one early film his character was ironically dubbed "The Professor." In another film, this exchange occurred:

Groucho: Who is this?

Chico: 'At's-a my partner, but he no speak.

Groucho: Oh, that's your silent partner!

File:HarpoMarx41e.jpg

Harpo in
A Night at the Opera (1935)

Harpo further distinguished his character by wearing a "fright wig." Early in his career it was dyed pink, as evidenced by color film posters of the time and by allusions to it in films, with character names such as "Pinky." It tended to show as blonde on-screen. Over time, he darkened the pink to more of a reddish color, again alluded to in films with names such as "Rusty."

In other media

In 1933, following U.S. diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union, he spent six weeks in Moscow as a performer and goodwill ambassador. His tour was a huge success.

In 1936 he was one of a number of performers and celebrities to appear as caricatures in the Walt Disney Production of Mickey's Polo Team. Harpo was part of a team of polo-playing Movie Stars which included Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. His mount was an ostrich.

Harpo also took an interest in painting, and a few of his works can be seen in his autobiography. In the book, Marx tells a story about how he tried to paint a nude female model, but froze up because he simply didn't know how to paint properly. The model took pity on him, however, showing him a few basic strokes with a brush, until finally Harpo (fully clothed) took the model's place as the subject and the naked woman painted his portrait.

In 1955, Harpo made a memorable appearance on Lucille Ball's popular sitcom I Love Lucy, in which they re-enacted the famous mirror scene from the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup.

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).

Personal life

He married actress Susan Fleming on September 28, 1936. Unlike most of his brothers, who were unlucky in love (Groucho was divorced three times, Chico and Zeppo were divorced once each), Harpo's marriage to Susan was lifelong. The couple adopted four children: Bill, Alex, Jimmy and Minnie. Harpo often said that he wanted to see one child in each window of his home when he returned from work each day.

File:Harpo a la Dali .jpg

Harpo Marx as rendered by Dalí

Harpo was good friends with theater critic Alexander Woollcott and because of this became a regular member of the Algonquin Round Table. Harpo, who was quiet in his personal life, said his main contribution was to be the audience in that group of wits. George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart based the character of "Banjo" in their play The Man Who Came to Dinner on Harpo and later played the role in Los Angeles opposite Alexander Woolcott who had inspired the character of Sheridan Whiteside.

In 1961, Harpo published his autobiography, Harpo Speaks. In it, he tells one story of a man who did not believe that Harpo could actually talk. Many people believed he was mute. In fact, recordings of his voice can be found on the Internet, documentaries, and on bonus materials of Marx Brothers DVDs. In one story, he had a fairly distinguished voice like a professional announcer, though he did have a New York accent his entire life (for example: "girls" he would pronounce "goils"; hear, for instance, these audio recordings.) Harpo actually had a much deeper and more resonant speaking voice than Groucho, which some suspect may be the real reason he was dissuaded from ever speaking in the act. For reference, his voice was fairly similar to Chico's, perhaps too similar, which would be another reason he developed his unique stage persona. He forged a career in after-dinner speaking. He would often open with the line "Unaccustomed as I am to speaking...." to choruses of laughter.

Harpo's final time before the public came in 1964, when he appeared on stage with singer/comedian Allan Sherman. Sherman burst into tears when Harpo announced his retirement.

Death

Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964, after undergoing open heart surgery. He was 75. Groucho's son Arthur Marx has said that Harpo's funeral was the only time he ever saw his father cry.

His remains were reportedly sprinkled into the sand trap off the seventh fairway of his favorite golf course. In his will, he donated his trademark harp to the nation of Israel.

Trivia

• According to family and friends, he often sent gag telegrams on occasion that kept with his silent persona on screen. They reportedly read, "NO MESSAGE - HARPO."

• In each of his films, Harpo can be seen making a signature face where his eyes bug out and his tongue seems to fill the space left by his open mouth. The face is called a "Gookie", named for a cigar maker in the Marx's Yorkville neighborhood in New York. Harpo used to watch Gookie make the face while making cigars and started to mimic him, the first character he ever developed.

• When asked for someone he loved in Animal Crackers he shows a picture of a horse, while in Horse Feathers he whistles a love theme to a horse and feeds it flowers, then proceeds to eat them himself. In Duck Soup he is actually seen in bed with a horse!

Further reading

• Marx, Harpo (1961). Harpo Speaks. New York: B. Geis Associates; New York: Limelight Editions, 1985. ISBN 0-87910-036-2

External links

• Harpo Marx at IMDb
• Harpo Marx at the TCM Movie Database
• Harpo Marx at the Internet Broadway Database
• Comprehensive fan site
• Clips of Harpo speaking