Harpo Marx Papers
name: label: Actor
content: Marx, Harpo, 1888-1964
label: Author
content: Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943
place: label: Place
content: Hollywood (Calif.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Comedians
label: Topic
content: Entertainers
label: Topic
content: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
label: Topic
content: Paramount Studios
label: Topic
content: RKO motion picture studio
label: Topic
content: Vaudeville -- 1880-1910
label: Topic
content: Vaudeville -- 1930-1940
label: Topic
content: Theatrical productions
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution by the Harpo Marx Estate, 2012.
creator: label: Actor
content: Marx, Harpo, 1888-1964
label: Author
content: Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943
setName: label: See more items in
content: Harpo Marx Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The personal and business papers of the comedian and Marx Brother, Harpo Marx, relating to his family and career. The papers include materials relating to his brothers Chico, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx.
function: label: Function
content: Motion picture studios -- California -- Hollywood
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7 Cubic feet (18 boxes, 1 map folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1896-2009, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1290
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Financial records
label: Type
content: Music
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Radio scripts
label: Type
content: 78 rpm records
label: Type
content: Sheet music
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Television scripts
label: Type
content: Clippings (information artifacts)
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The Harpo Marx Papers are arranged in six series.

Series 1, Correspondence and Personal Papers, 1919-2008, undated

Series 2, Scripts, Music Manuscripts, and Ephemera, 1917-1965, undated

Series 3, Photographs, 1896-1964, undated

Series 4, Marx, William "Bill" Woollcott, 1976-2009

Series 5, Financial and Investment, 1934-1991, undated

Series 6, Sound Recordings, Original Audio Discs, 1945-1957, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Zoe Adams, intern, and Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist, supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, 2023. Sound Recordings: Original Audio Discs processed by Wendy A. Shay, archivist, 2012.
bibliography: label: Bibliography
content: Arthur (born Adolph) "Harpo" Marx (1888-1964) was born November 23, 1888 in New York, New York, the son of Samuel and Minnie Schoenberg Marx. He had six siblings: Manfred (1885-1886), Leonard Joseph (Chico) (1887-1961), Julius Henry (Groucho)(1890-1977), Milton (Gummo) (1893-1977), Herbert Manfred (Zeppo) (1901-1979) and Samuel (1902-?). His mother was the sister of noted Vaudeville comedian Al Shean. Unlike his on-screen and stage persona, Harpo was able to speak. He married actor Susan Alma Fleming in 1936. They adopted four children.

The Marx Brothers, at one time called The Six Mascots had vaudeville in their blood and their mother Minnie was a driving force in their careers. Minnie organized the Three Nightingales with Groucho, Gummo and a girl singer. The girl was eventually replaced by a boy tenor and Harpo joined the troupe. The name of the group was changed to The Four Nightingales. Minnie acted as the group's manager. The group became known as the Marx Brothers with everyone except Gummo taking part in the act. The family moved to Chicago circa 1904 where their grandfather lived.

The brothers toured the South and Midwest performing a vaudeville skit called "Fun in Hiskule". It is noted that the comedy act began in Nacogdoches, Texas. The Marx Brothers first big success came in 1919 with their vaudeville act entitled "Home Again". In 1920, they were booked into the Palace Theatre in New York City and played there for thirteen months. They tourned on the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit formed by Benjamin F. Keith, Edward F. Albee, and Martin Beck's Orpheum circuit. They were later banished from the circuit due to a contract violation - they had accepted employment without Edward F. Albee's permission.

In 1923 they toured with the show "I'll Say She Is", a collection of vaudeville routines that Groucho had written in collaboration with brothers Will B. and Tom Johnstone. The show ran on Broadway for thirty-eight weeks. On December 8, 1925, the brothers (using their nicknames professionally for the first time) opened on Broadway in "The Cocoanuts". The play was written expressly for them by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind with music by Irving Berlin. The brothers made a silent film circa 1924 called "Humor Risk" but it was never released. "Animal Crackers" opened on October 23, 1928.

On the strength of their success in "The Cocoanuts", the Marx Brothers were signed to a film contract. In 1929, they made the film version of "The Cocoanuts" while performing "Animal Crackers" on the stage. Their mother, Minnie Marx died the same year. The following year the Brothers starred in the film version of "Animal Crackers". Both films were made in New York City. In 1931, Groucho moved to Hollywood where The Marx Brothers made thirteen films. The brothers signed with Paramount Pictures and made "Monkey Business" (1931), "Horsefeathers" (1932) and "Duck Soup" (1933) while at the studio. In 1933, Zeppo left the troupe and their father, Samuel Marx, died.

In February 1934 Groucho and Chico teamed up in a radio program called "Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel", about characters who were comic lawyers. In March 1934 they replaced Ethel Waters on a weekly radio series sponsored by the American Oil Company. In 1935 the brothers starred in "A Night at the Opera" for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a film produced by Irving Thalberg and a sequel, "A Day at the Races" (1937). In addition to working for MGM, the brothers starred in "Room Service" (1938) for the RKO studio.

In addition to comedy, Harpo famously played the harp. He had a robust solo career in music, film, stage, and television, until his retirement in the early 1960s. He died on September 28, 1964 after a heart by-pass operation. He was cremated and his ashes were reportedly scattered into the sand trap at the seventh hole of the Rancho Mirage golf course.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Financial records
label: Genre/Form
content: Music -- Manuscripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Radio scripts
label: Genre/Form
content: 78 rpm records
label: Genre/Form
content: Sheet music
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Television scripts
label: Genre/Form
content: clippings (information artifacts)
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The personal and business papers of the comedian and Marx Brother, Harpo Marx. The papers also include materials relating to his brothers Chico, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx, his family, and career. The papers include theatrical scripts, photographs of productions and family, numerous news clippings, and extensive financial records for Harpo's investments. There is original correspondence from Harpo's friend, Alexander Woollcott. The papers include copies of Woollcott's correspondence and Harpo's replies. There is a series with material related to Harpo's son, William "Bill" W. Marx.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Groucho Marx Collection, AC0290
George Sidney Collection, AC0867
Richard Carver Wood Photographs, AC0964