Adolph Harpo Marx was born 126 years ago today. A comedian and film star, Marx was the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish blonde wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). Marx 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. Harpo was born in New York City. He grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side (E. 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue) of Manhattan. 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. Just across the street were the oldest brownstones in the area, owned by people like the well-connected Loew Brothers and William Orth. Harpos parents were Sam Marx (called Frenchie throughout his life), and his wife, Minnie Schoenberg Marx. Minnies brother was Al Schoenberg, who changed his name to Al Shean when he went into show business. He was half of Gallagher and Shean, a noted vaudeville act of the early 20th century. Marxs family was Jewish. His mother was from Dornum in East Frisia; and his father was a native of Alsace and worked as a tailor. Harpo received little formal education, and left grade school at age eight, during his second attempt to pass the second grade. 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 shop and as an errand office boy. In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius (later Groucho) and Milton (later Gummo), 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 gained 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. (In Harpos autobiography, he says that mother Minnie Marx sent him the harp.) Harpo learned how to hold it properly from a picture of an angel playing a harp that he saw in a five-and-dime. 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 have tuned it properly; if he had, the strings would have broken each night. Harpos method 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 spent their time listening to him, fascinated by the way he played. In his movie performances he played the harp with his own tuning. His first screen appearance was in the 1921 film Humor Risk, with his brothers, although according to Groucho, it was only screened once and then lost. Four years later, Harpo appeared without his brothers in Too Many Kisses, four years before the brothers first widely released film, The Cocoanuts (1929). In Too Many Kisses, Harpo spoke the only line he would ever speak on-camera in a movie: You sure you cant move? Fittingly, it was a silent movie, and the audience only saw his lips move and saw the line on a title card. Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964 (he and his wife, Susans, 28th wedding anniversary), at age 75, after undergoing open heart surgery following a heart attack, barely six months after his retirement. Harpos death was said to have hit the surviving Marx brothers very hard. Grouchos son Arthur Marx, who attended the funeral with most of the Marx family, later said that Harpos funeral was the only time in his life that he ever saw his father cry. Harpo is most known for his signature outfit: trench coat with over-large pockets, red wig (turning out blonde on black and white film), top hat and a comical horn heard in his movies. He was also well-known for playing the harp, though he could not read music. For many moviegoers, Harpo Marx provided their introduction to harp music. Today, thanks to reruns of Marx Brothers films, Harpo continues to entertain audiences old and new. Outside the professional harp community, he remains one of the best ambassadors for the harp the world has known. In time, his talent earned him an international reputation as he performed in movies as well as in stage shows around the globe. Here, the Best of Harp Marx in Animal Crackers, 1930.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 12:07:01 +0000
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