Talk:Harpo Marx

message: My relevant book (A Gift of Laughter) is packed away, but it's worth mentioning that Marx and Allan Sherman were neighbors and good friends. Marx, as I recall, was partially responsible for jump-starting Sherman's parody-singing career (as distinct from his stalled career in television game shows).Lawikitejana 18:01, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Allan Sherman and HM 

message: it was recently suggested and edited into the harpo page here that harpo was names after harpocrates, the egyptian god of silence.  This is untrue according to the autobiography "Harpo Speaks", and I have removed it, but Ill be god damned if this isnt an interesting point.  We know that there was great interest in egyption culture or at least fashion in the 20's as well.  But even if the card player who gave Harpo his name knew this, it is too interesting that harpo happened to play the harp as well, and wasn't this beore he stopped speaking on stage?  As far as I can tell it's all unrelated but even if it partially wasn't, it's very coincidential.... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Everything Inane (talk • contribs) 01:31, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It was simply vandalism.  No need to comment about it, just revert it.Shsilver 02:05, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It was at least somewhat clever... except Harpocrates would be Greek, not Egyptian. Meanwhile, there is no question that Harpo got his name from playing the harp. Groucho also mentioned that in his Carnegie Hall concert, along with Chico originally being Chick-o because he was a "chicken chaser". That prelude was a setup to his remark, "I have no idea where my nickname came from!" Wahkeenah 07:46, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi guys, my friend edited that & he complained to me that his edit was reverted. Could you see see if you'd like my edit instead? (Wikimachine 19:12, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, as Harpo would say... "HONK!" Wahkeenah 23:38, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

text: If the fact of the matter is, indeed, that there is not a real connection between Harpo and Harpokrates, then leave it out of the article. This is an encyclopedia after all, and not a trivia collection. I suggest we put it to a vote here: who wants Harpokrates in the article? I vote "no". --K72ndst 14:13, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There is no reason to vote.  It is plain and simple vandalism.  Harpo got his name because he played the harp, a fact which is easily verifiable in numerous sources. If the vandals could find even a single reputable source for their garbage, I might think it could possibly be worth a vote. Voting on it, however, would be like voting whether to include a statement that Dorothy Parker got her name becasue she used to "park" with various men in dimly lit corners of Central Park. Shsilver 14:24, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Probably parking with Chico, ironically enough. For the moment, I'm going to pretend it's an honest mistake or "original research". It it happens again, then it's vandalism for sure, and the three revert rule will not apply (nor hopefully will it be necessary, but we'll see). Wahkeenah 14:47, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

text: A valedictorian who can't figure out how to type. Tell me another one. Like the Harpocrates story, which has nothing whatsoever to do with Harpo Marx. Wahkeenah 02:36, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: But the valedictorian did explain why they were named after Harpocrates. They were silent. (Wikimachine 04:24, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

text: Those "citations" are collections of uncited opinions and speculation, along with echo sites of this site. The Marx Brothers explained where their nicknames came from. Harpo's came from playing the harp. If you can find a cite where the Marx Brothers say anything about Harpocrates, then you've got something. Wahkeenah 02:56, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm sorry. Taipei Times is reliable. Another source: . Ah... A reliable hard copy! .
(Wikimachine 04:24, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The Marx Brothers have only ever said that it had to do with Harpo's skill with the harp. Any other assertions are fabrications. Your continued insistence on pushing this fairy tale must now be considered vandalism, and will be treated as such. Wahkeenah 04:41, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It has nothing to do with "viewpoints". The Marx family, in various media (such as Harpo's autobiography) always said that Harpo's name came strictly from his skill at playing the harp. There is no evidence they ever said anything different. I've pointed this out several times, and you ignore it, despite your own admission that you know nothing about Harpo Marx. Just because some blog writer or columnist makes the connection doesn't mean there's anything to it. You could add that info to the article if you say "coincidentally". To try to assert that it actually came from that Egyptian god's name is verifiably a falsehood. Wahkeenah 12:27, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Harpocrates]] 

message: ; Description : The focus of the project would be articles relating to the Algonquin Round Table, including its members and their literary works. 
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thread_title:  Algonquin Round Table proposal at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals]], please vote!

message: From the Groucho Marx article:
They were billing themselves as 'The Four Nightingales', Julius, Milton (Gummo Marx), Adolph (Harpo Marx) (later changed to Arthur), and another boy singer, Lou Levy... 
From this article:
In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius (later "Groucho") and Milton, to form "The Three Nightingales".  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.8.236.175 (talk) 19:53, 11 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  How many Nightingales? 

message: At the end of Firesign Theater's third album, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers (1970), considered (justly) by some to be the greatest English-language audio comedy album, the Everyman protagonist of the album, George Leroy Tirebiter, an elderly retired ex-actor, ex-director, ex-soldier, ex-student/spy, receives a wake-up call from his answering service (he replies, "that's alright, my dear, I've been up all night watching myself on the TV"). When he asks if there are any messages for him, the operator replies by reeling off a list of messages from persons clearly identifiable as important figures from the early era of movies, especially comedy movies: "Mr. Sennett...Mr. Keaton...Mr. Roach," etc. The receptionist also says "and from  a Mr. Honk! Honk! Honk! [imitating the sound of a bicycle horn, which Harpo always carried in the pockets of his oversized jackets and used as another nonverbal means of emphatic communication]; he wouldn't leave his name." It's clearly a reference to Harpo. maccbMaccb (talk) 01:50, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Harpo and Firesign Theater 

message: There's a scene in A Night At The Opera in which Harpo appears to play what looks and sounds like a kazoo. In order to play that instrument he had to use his voice. Worth a mention in the article? AncientBrit (talk) 11:34, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Harpo Uses His Voice In A Night At The Opera 

message: The source in the paragraph about Moscow seems to be somebody's class paper. Now, it does cite sources; shouldn't we just cite those reliable sources rather than the class paper? Yworo (talk) 19:53, 29 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Moscow 

message: The article mentions Harpo being on "I've Got A Secret." I saw a replay of the episode and what actually happened was that someone who looked exactly like Harpo came out, but the secret was "I'm not Harpo, I'm actually Chico." Can we fit that on here somehow? Or would it be better under Chico's page?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bobbyknightmare (talk • contribs) 05:06, 30 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  I've Got A Secret 

message: In his autobiography, Harpo writes:
:Adolpho is the name I was given when I was born, in New York City, in 1893.
Yet most biographies of him state his birth as 1888, and his death at age 75. In fact, the biographical info on the inside title page of the very same book lists his dates as 1888–1964. (The book can be found online at Google Books, ch.2, p.17.) So what is his real birthdate? Should these edits be reverted? — Loadmaster (talk) 20:05, 31 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Citation, please? Peaceray (talk) 00:29, 27 October 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: His son claims that on his website, as found by User_talk:96.231.198.227. Ramaksoud2000 (Talk to me)  03:22, 7 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Birthdate? 

message: The tone is that of a personal essay. Please help clean it up! Earendil56 (talk) 19:54, 5 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Section: Legacy 

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thread_title: File:Marx Brothers 1948.jpg Nominated for Deletion

message: waaa. i wanted to find out if he played those instruments for real.  also something about how he came to those instruments.  didn't really see musical info. music's kind of a big deal with this character Cramyourspam (talk) 00:34, 10 April 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Someone needs to look at this question. You can find plenty of evidence that he played the harp - well to some people's ears - BUT that doesn't prove that he is actually the harpist on the soundtracks, although he may be. In fact, if you watch carefully, you'll see that sometimes he is playing a different arrangement from the one on the soundtrack. Fuficius Fango (talk) 15:05, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  musicianship --nothing about 

message: Because Harpo never spoke a word in all of his movies and TV appearances, many fans and other people believed he really was dumb. 
I have corrected this three times now; someone keeps changing the last word to mute for some reason, thus defeating the sense of the paragraph.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.177.93.58 (talk) 01:02, 2 November 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: You did not give any explanation for the edit (until now).  I changed it back for the reason I gave, which is that "dumb" no longer means "unable to speak" in the common vernacular; it now means "stupid".  How, exactly, does "mute" -- which is a far more appropriate descriptor in this context -- "defeat the sense of the paragraph"?   Also, please sign your posts in the future. DoctorJoeE review transgressions/talk to me! 14:06, 3 November 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  Not hard to understand, really.  Because his character was dumb/mute, some people assumed he really was dumb/stupid.  It is not unusual for people to confuse lack of speech with lack of intellect, and at the time Harpo was making movies it was even more common to make the association.  The sense of the paragraph comes from the association of the two meanings of "dumb".  Please don't allow a misguided sense of political correctness  to undermine the informative value of a statement.  The "common vernacular" of right now, is not relevent to the period of Harpo's professional activity.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.187.1 (talk) 07:44, 14 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  speech 

message: I think we should add a filmography to this article. It seems arbitrary not to include one. -Xcuref1endx (talk) 05:54, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Filmography

message: Harpo gave a cup of coffee, which he pulled from his pocket, to a homeless man in Horse Feathers, not in A Night At The Opera.  Avant678 (talk) 14:55, 10 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Harpo gives coffee to homeless man 

message: birthday = 1893, ref: his autobiography184.183.182.110 (talk) 12:02, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Birthdate in autobiography 

message: Substituted at 17:11, 29 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Assessment comment

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: The explanation given doesn't make sense.  He got the name at a card game because he played the harp?  Was he playing background music for the game?  Was he playing cards and there just happened to be a concert harp sitting in the corner that he went over an played after throwing in his hand?  Harps are expensive, and were even back in vaudeville days -- where did he get the harp from?  
Laater in that section:  "but he could not have tuned it properly; if he had, the strings would have broken each night" -- makes no sense.  If the instrument were tuned properly why would the strings be breaking "each night"?  Professional harpists all over the world have been tuning the instrument properly for a hundred yeaaars and more, and they don't find themselves having to restring daily.
More (and better ) information on his harp playing is needed.
:Hello, whoever you are.  I agree that the tuning comment makes no sense, so, since it's unsourced, I took it out.  I will see what's said about the relation of harps to his stagename and see if I can find an RS for it later, hopefully today.  As for improved info about him playing harp, go nuts.  Anyone can edit, so, if you can source some more info, add it in!  I may look for that as well.  Suffice it to say, I recently did a lot of work on this article, and I think it's better for it.  I added lots of info as have numerous other editors, but there's plenty that should be added and fixed.  My suggestion is always that, if it's important to you, you should do the work instead of hoping someone else will.  If it's not that important to you, since Wikipedia is always being edited and expanded, someone will likely get to it soon.  Some users don't like fellow Wikipedians announcing what work needs doing rather than chipping in.  I used to do that a lot, though, especially in my early Wiki-days, so I see no harm - but I still encourage yourself to do it yourself - your input could be really helpful! FireWalkWithMe27♣(talk) 23:12, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origin of the stage name 

message: Hi All,
I was about to fix a typo in the "In other media section" (the "Harpo also took an interest in painting." paragraph).  The typo is an extra character (f) at the end of the paragraph.  When I deleted it & checked out the Preview of the altered paragraph, all the sources were re-numbered relative to that paragraph, so I decided not to save it.  Could someone with slightly more Wiki editing experience pls fix it?  Thanks.  SaturnCat (talk) 14:44, 27 December 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Hey there!  I did tons of editing on this and I guarantee you I made that typo.  Thanks for spotting it and letting me/us know!  I'm still learning, but it appears that when you only edit a particular section, the notations get all wonky in the preview - perhaps it renumbers them, as they're the only citations visible in that preview.  When you edit the whole page's source, this doesn't seem to happen.  Regardless, I took the offending "f" the f out. ;)  Thanks again! Cheers. FireWalkWithMe27♣(talk) 23:00, 31 December 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pls fix typo