Harpo Marx's Biography

Dedicated to the wit and comedy of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo

Harpo Marx

Birth name
Adolph Marx
Date of birth (location)
Nov 23, 1888 New York, NY
Date of death (details)
September 28, 1964 Los Angeles, California (following heart surgery)
Height
5' 5"
Married
Susan Fleming (Sept 28, 1936-Sept 28, 1964) His death
Bio
With the big, poofy, curly red hair, a top hat, and a horn, the lovable mute was the favorite of the Marx Brothers. Though chasing woman was a favorite routine of his in the movies, Harpo was a devoted father and husband. He adopted the mute routine in Vaudville and carried it over to the films. Harpo was an accomplished self-taught harpist who's musical numbers would many times bring tears to the eyes of the audience of an otherwise hilarious movie. Marx, Adolph Usually wore a raincoat, beat up top hat and a red wig. Rarely spoke in his roles and never in films with his brothers. He would use pantomime and often had a bike horn to communicate with. He often had a scene where he would play a harp with great skill. In the Paramount films, his coat carried an infinite variety of items for whatever need whether it was a blowtorch for lighting cigarettes, a sword and fish for a speak-easy password, a candle burning at both ends, etc.

Trivia

Adopted three sons and one daughter.
Recreated the mirror scene from Duck Soup in an episode of I Love Lucy.
When he trained himself in the harp, he later learned that he did it the wrong way. However, when he became famous, many musicians came to him to learn his method of harp playing.
Harpo first using the gag of chasing a screaming girl as a quick prank to throw Groucho's timing off on stage. Groucho wasn't fazed, but Harpo got in trouble when he found out the hard way that the girl had a violent mobster for a boy friend. He quickly made peace with the man and incorporated the girl chasing for the rest of his career.
The pantomime came from when the brothers were first doing their comedy act on stage as kids. Harpo had so few lines in most of the acts that he was allowed to drop them all and improvise pantomime comedy instead.
Ashes allegedly sprinkled into the sand trap at the seventh hole of the Rancho Mirage golf course in California, USA.
In 1938, legally changed his his first name from Adolph to Arthur.
Left handed.
As a child, Harpo was apparently infatuated with music. He rejoiced when his family bought a piano. He then fell into dispair when he found out that they could only afford to let one brother have piano lessons. Chico ended up with the lessons, which he did not take seriously. Harpo, of course, later mastered the harp.
Harpo officially became a mime after a theater critic once noted that Harpo was brilliant until his character spoke. From then on, Harpo never spoke while in character.
Did not know how to read music
Performed the rope scene in "A Night at the Opera" without any harnesses, nets, or safety lines

More Biographical Information at: www.marx-brothers.org

Harpo Marx appeared in the following movies:

Film Title	Character name
Humorisk - 1920/21 c.	Watson
Too Many Kisses - 1925	The Village Peter Pan
The Cocoanuts - 1929	Harpo
Animal Crackers - 1930	The Professor
Monkey Business - 1931	A Stowaway
The House That Shadows Built - 1931
Horse Feathers - 1932	Pinky
Hollywood on Parade No.5 - 1932
Duck Soup - 1933	Pinky
A Night at the Opera - 1935	Tomasso
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara - 1935
A Day at the Races - 1937	Stuffy
Room Service - 1938	Faker Englund
At the Circus - 1939	Punchy
Go West - 1940	Rusty Panello
The Big Store - 1941	Wacky
Stage Door Canteen - 1943
Screen snapshot No. 110 - 1943
Hollywood canteen - 1944
The All-Star Bond Rally - 1945
A Night in Casablanca - 1946	Rusty
Love Happy - 1949	Harpo
The Story of Mankind - 1957	Isaac Newton

Pictures of Harpo | Gallery Contents