Harpo Marx

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Lore & Background

Harpo learned how to hold the harp by emulating a harp-playing angel in a picture he saw in a five-and-dime. He tuned it as best he could, starting with one basic note and tuning it from there, and began learning to play without lessons. Three years later, he found out he had tuned it incorrectly, but that his method placed much less tension on the strings. Despite his musical talent, he never learned to read or write music. Although he paid top musicians handsome fees to teach him "proper" harp-playing technique, he maintained his unique style his entire life. 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. His first screen appearance was in the film Humor Risk (1921) with his brothers, though according to Groucho it was screened only once and then lost. Four years later, Harpo appeared without his brothers as the "Village Peter Pan" in Too Many Kisses, which predated the brothers' first collaborative film, The Cocoanuts, by four years. In Too Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he ever spoke on-camera in a film, saying "You sure you can't move?" to the film's tied-up hero before punching him; however, it was a silent film, and the audience only saw his lips move and the line on a title card. Harpo became known for prop-laden sight gags, such as in Horse Feathers (1932) where Groucho tells Harpo he cannot "burn the candle at both ends" and Harpo immediately produces from within his coat pocket a candle burning at both ends. In the same film, a homeless man asks Harpo for money for a cup of coffee; he produces a steaming cup, complete with saucer, from inside his coat. 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"; Harpo mimicked the expression of Mr. Gehrke, a New York tobacconist who made a similar face while concentrating on rolling cigars.

Reader's Guide

Harpo Marx's significance lies in his creation of a silent, visual comedy persona that complemented the verbal humor of his brothers, expanding the range of the Marx Brothers' act. His pantomime and prop gags, such as the oversized pockets and the horn cane, became iconic elements of American comedy. His unique harp playing, learned without formal instruction and maintained despite later lessons, added a musical dimension that distinguished his character. The disputes over the origin of his stage name and the reasons for his silence reflect the improvisational and often undocumented nature of early vaudeville. 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. There is disagreement regarding the time and place of the game, however. In his autobiography Harpo Speaks!, Harpo said 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. 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." It has also been said that Harpo reinvented himself as a mute clown by 1915 due to his nerves around speaking on stage; he even turned down an offer of US$50,000 to say the single word "Murder!" in A Night in Casablanca in 1946. He did however sometimes speak in live performances. His legacy endures as a master of physical comedy whose work influenced later generations of clowns and comedians.

Did You Know?

• Harpo learned how to hold the harp by emulating a harp-playing angel in a picture he saw in a five-and-dime.
• He never learned to read or write music, and tuned his harp incorrectly for three years before discovering his method placed much less tension on the strings.
• He turned down an offer of US$50,000 to say the single word 'Murder!' in A Night in Casablanca (1946).
• One of his facial expressions, used in every Marx Brothers film and stage play beginning with Fun in Hi Skule, was called 'the Gookie,' based on a New York tobacconist.

The Architecture of Silence

Across his entire film career, a curly reddish-blonde wig was his constant, and he never uttered a single line, relying instead on a horn or a whistle to get his point across. This commitment to pure physicality set him apart from the wordplay-driven comedy of his siblings Groucho and Chico, anchoring his work firmly in the visual traditions of vaudeville, clowning, and pantomime. Among his signature props was a horn cane assembled from a lead pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn. Multiple unverified stories explain why he became the brothers' 'silent' one. Groucho wrote in his memoir that Harpo simply couldn't memorize dialogue well, making him ideal for the archetypal vaudeville dunce. Another account holds that he developed stage fright by 1915 and reinvented himself as a mute clown. He reportedly turned down fifty thousand dollars to speak the single word 'Murder!' in the 1946 film A Night in Casablanca, though he occasionally did break his silence in live stage performances.

A Harp Tuned by Instinct

His first lesson in holding the harp came from mimicking a harp-playing angel depicted in a picture he'd spotted at a five-and-dime store. With no local harpist available to instruct him, he tuned the instrument from a single basic note, working outward by ear. It wasn't until three years had passed that he learned his tuning was technically wrong, even if his approach kept far less tension on the strings. He never learned to read or write music. He paid top musicians handsome fees to learn 'proper' technique, yet he kept his own style for his whole career; his instructors, captivated by what he did, often spent their sessions simply watching and listening rather than correcting him. The notable exception was Mildred Dilling, a professional harpist who finally brought him proper technique and became a regular collaborator when he had trouble composing. In his films he performed pieces such as 'When My Dreams Come True' in The Cocoanuts and 'Alone' in A Night at the Opera. After his passing in 1964, one of his harps was given to the state of Israel, where it ultimately found a place in an Israeli orchestra.

A Tenement Boy on the Upper East Side

Adolph Marx entered the world on November 23, 1888, in Manhattan, and grew up in Yorkville—a neighborhood now called Carnegie Hill—on East 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue. His family occupied a turn-of-the-century tenement in a district populated largely by European immigrant artisans. His mother, Minnie Schoenberg Marx, hailed from East Frisia, Germany, and his father Sam, a tailor, came from Alsace, which had been part of the Second French Empire at the time of his birth. The family was Jewish, and Minnie's brother was the comedian and vaudeville performer Al Shean. Harpo received very little formal schooling; he dropped out of New York Public School 86 during his second attempt at second grade when he was eight, largely because of bullying. He and his older brother Chico took on numerous odd jobs—selling newspapers, working in a butcher shop, and serving as an office errand boy—to help support the household. By 1911 he had changed his name from the 'Adolph' he disliked (children had called him 'Ahdie') to 'Arthur.'

Three Nightingales and a Card-Game Nickname

In January 1910, Harpo joined his younger brothers Julius and Milton to form 'The Three Nightingales,' the troupe that would eventually become the Marx Brothers. The stage name 'Harpo' reportedly sprang from a card game in which the dealer, Art Fisher, called him that because he played the harp. Yet the exact time and place remain disputed: Harpo's own memoir placed the incident in Rockford, Illinois, while the most common version locates it at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg—though that theatre wasn't built until late 1916, and Harpo remembered getting the name in 1914. Fisher is believed to have left vaudeville in 1912, and some sources suggest the game may have occurred at the Galesburg Auditorium or the Gaiety Theatre instead. Chico found Harpo some of his earliest jobs; the two worked together playing piano to accompany silent films. Harpo could manage only two pieces—'Waltz Me Around Again, Willie' and 'Love Me and the World Is Mine'—but adapted their tempos to match the action on screen before eventually ceding the piano to Chico in favor of his harp.