43 Facts About Harpo Marx

1.

Harpo Marx wore a curly reddish blond wig and was silent in all his movie appearances, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate.

2.

Harpo Marx frequently employed props such as a horn cane constructed from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn.

3.

Harpo Marx was born on November 23,1888, in Manhattan, New York City.

4.

Harpo Marx grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue.

5.

The turn-of-the-century tenement that Harpo Marx later called "the first real home I can remember" was situated in a neighborhood populated with European immigrants, mostly artisans.

6.

Harpo Marx's parents were Sam Marx and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx, sister of comedian and Vaudeville performer Al Shean.

7.

Harpo Marx's mother was from East Frisia, Germany, and his father, a tailor, 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.

8.

Harpo Marx received little formal education and dropped out of New York Public School 86 at age eight during his second attempt to pass the second grade.

9.

Harpo Marx 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.

10.

In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his younger brothers, Julius and Milton, to form "The Three Nightingales", which would later be renamed "The Marx Brothers".

11.

However, this version of events is disputed, at least partially because the Orpheum Theatre was not constructed until late 1916, whereas Harpo Marx later remembered acquiring the name in 1914.

12.

Harpo Marx learned how to hold the harp by emulating a harp-playing angel in a picture he saw in a five-and-dime.

13.

Harpo Marx began learning to play the instrument without lessons.

14.

Harpo Marx had changed his name from "Adolph", a name he disliked, to "Arthur" by 1911.

15.

Four years later, Harpo Marx appeared without his brothers as the "Village Peter Pan" in Too Many Kisses which predated the brothers' first collaborative film, The Cocoanuts, by 4 years.

16.

Harpo Marx became known for prop-laden sight gags, in particular the seemingly infinite number of odd things stored in his topcoat's oversized pockets.

17.

Harpo Marx immediately produces from within his coat pocket a lit candle burning at both ends.

18.

Harpo Marx often used facial expressions and mime to get his point across instead of speaking.

19.

Harpo Marx created it by mimicking the expression of Mr Gehrke, a New York tobacconist who would make a similar face while concentrating on rolling cigars.

20.

Harpo Marx further distinguished his character by wearing a "fright wig".

21.

In some films Harpo Marx actually wore a blonde wig.

22.

Harpo Marx's 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.

23.

In reality, the decision to remain silent began when Harpo Marx received a negative review, part of which suggested that Harpo Marx's portrayal of a fool was convincing only until he spoke.

24.

In later films, Harpo Marx was repeatedly put in situations where he attempted to convey a vital message by whistling and pantomime, reinforcing the idea that his character was unable to speak.

25.

In 1933, following US diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union, Harpo Marx spent six weeks in Moscow as a performer and goodwill ambassador.

26.

Harpo Marx's tour was a huge success, and the show ran for six weeks.

27.

Harpo Marx, having no knowledge of Russian, pronounced it as "Exapno Mapcase".

28.

The model, pitying Harpo Marx, taught him some basic brush strokes.

29.

Harpo Marx recorded an album of harp music for RCA Victor and two for Mercury Records.

30.

Harpo Marx 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.

31.

Harpo Marx appeared on NBC's The Martha Raye Show circa 1950.

32.

In 1960, Harpo Marx appeared in his first dramatic role, the A Silent Panic episode of The DuPont Show with June Allyson.

33.

Harpo Marx plays a deaf-mute who witnesses a gangland murder while working as a "mechanical man" in a department store window.

34.

Harpo Marx was good friends with theater critic Alexander Woollcott, alongside whom he became a regular member of the Algonquin Round Table.

35.

Harpo Marx once said his main contribution was to be the audience for the quips of other members.

36.

Harpo Marx later played the role in Los Angeles opposite Woollcott, himself the inspiration for the character of Sheridan Whiteside.

37.

Comedian Steve Allen, who was in the audience, remembered that Harpo Marx spoke for several minutes about his career, and how he would miss it all, and repeatedly interrupted Sherman when he tried to speak.

38.

Harpo Marx died on September 28,1964, aged 75 in a West Los Angeles hospital, one day after undergoing heart surgery.

39.

Harpo Marx's remains were cremated 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.

40.

Harpo Marx was survived by his wife Susan, four children Bill, Alex, Jimmy, and Minnie and younger brothers Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.

41.

Harpo Marx's talent extended to piano and clarinet, which, as he had with the harp, Harpo mostly learned independent of professional instruction.

42.

Harpo Marx was frequently invited to parties thrown by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

43.

Harpo 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.