Harpo Marx

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The hard core of the Marx Brothers: Chico (above), Groucho (below) and Harpo Marx, 1948
Harpo plays the harp

Adolph Arthur Marx , better known as Harpo Marx (born November 23, 1888 in New York , † September 28, 1964 in Los Angeles ), was an American entertainer, mime artist and actor. Together with his brothers Groucho , Chico , Zeppo and Gummo, he formed the Marx Brothers , who enjoyed great success in vaudeville , on Broadway and in the cinema.

Life

As a member of the Marx Brothers , he appeared in several film comedies in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. His trademarks were the (red) wig , his harp playing and the fact that he never spoke in front of the camera and rather made himself understood with horns and whistles. The reason for this is said to have been a critic who had attested Harpo in the vaudeville time of the troupe a brilliant pantomimic talent, which lost a lot of fascination as soon as he spoke text. Harpo was only reluctantly convinced of this curtailment of his possibilities, initially even threatened to leave the comedian troupe, but then came to terms with the situation and became a "silent film star of the sound film era". In the silent film Too Many Kisses you can read the only sentence from his lips: "You sure you can't move?"

A musical interlude on the harp was also part of the standard repertoire. He came to his stage name through the harp (English "harp"). Harpo had learned to play the harp himself - as well as reading and writing. He had already left school after the second grade.

In addition to the films listed below with the other Marx Brothers, he appeared in a number of other films, which, however, did not achieve the fame of the Marx Brothers films and are now partly lost.

Despite his poor education, Harpo Marx cultivated many friendships in intellectual circles. He was a member of the Algonquin Round Table , which included critic and author Alexander Woollcott , columnist FPA , founder and editor of The New Yorker Harold Ross, and authors Dorothy Parker , George S. Kaufman, and Robert Benchley .

Harpo Marx married Susan Fleming on September 28, 1936, with whom he adopted four children: Bill, Alex, Jimmy and Minnie. Three years before his death in 1964, he published his autobiography Harpo Speaks! out. On September 28, 1964, his 28th wedding anniversary, Harpo Marx died as a result of heart surgery in New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. He was 75 years old. His widow Susan died on December 22, 2002 at the age of 94.

Groucho's son Arthur Marx later said the only time he saw his father cry at Harpo's funeral. Harpo bequeathed his famous harp to the people of Israel.

Filmography

literature

  • Harpo Marx, Rowland Barber: Harpo speaks! Geis Associates, New York NY a. a. 1961 (autobiography; German: Harpo speaks! From the American by Werner Horch. Rogner and Bernhard bei Zweiausendeins, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-8077-0232-6 ).
  • Wayne Koestenbaum : The Anatomy of Harpo Marx. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2012, ISBN 978-0-520-26901-9 .

Web links

Commons : Harpo Marx  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Glenn Mitchell: The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia . BT Batsford Ltd, London 1996, ISBN 0-7134-7838-1 .
personal data
SURNAME Marx, Harpo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marx, Adolph Arthur (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comedian
DATE OF BIRTH November 23, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1964
Place of death los Angeles