(In Harpo’s autobiography, he says that mother Minnie Marx sent him the harp. The dealer (Art Fisher) called him “Harpo” because he played the harp. Harpo gained his stage name during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois. In his memoir, Groucho wrote that Harpo simply wasn’t very good at memorizing dialog, and thus was ideal for the role of the “dunce who couldn’t speak”, a common character in vaudeville acts of the time.
In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius (later “Groucho”) and Milton (later “Gummo”), to form “The Three Nightingales”, later changed to simply “The Marx Brothers.” Multiple stories - most unsubstantiated - exist to explain Harpo’s evolution as the “silent” character in the brothers’ act. He began to work, gaining employment in numerous odd jobs alongside his brother Chico to contribute to the family income, including selling newspapers, working in a butcher’s shop, and as an errand office boy. Harpo received little formal education and left grade school at age eight, during his second attempt to pass the second grade. His mother was from East Frisia in Germany, and his father was a native of France and worked as a tailor. Harpo’s parents were Sam Marx (called “Frenchie” throughout his life) and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx. Just across the street were the oldest brownstones in the area, owned by people like the well-connected Loew Brothers and William Orth. The turn-of-the-century building that Harpo called “the first real home they ever knew” (in his memoir Harpo Speaks), was populated with European immigrants, mostly artisans – which even included a glass blower. He grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side (E 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue) of Manhattan. So I’ll give you a bio and then, as an ironic gesture, give you a list of some of his quotes. One of the things about him that still intrigues me is the utter change in his face when he played the harp – solemn and serene, not clown-like at all. As a boy he was my favorite Marx brother.
He frequently used props such as a horn cane, made up of a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn, and he played the harp in most of his films. He wore a curly reddish blonde wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. Today is the birthday (1888) of Adolph “Harpo” Marx (later Arthur “Harpo” Marx) legendary comedian, musician, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers.
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