Harpo Marx Name Change : snopes.com - - Claim: Harpo Marx changed his given name from Adolph to Arthur in order to avoid an association with Adolf Hitler. FALSE Origins: An age-old technique for mobilizing a populace to fight a war is to so thoroughly demonize the enemy that the conflict becomes seen by the public as a moral battle rather than a political one. This technique was used to maximum effect in America during World War I , when for the first time the U.S. was engaged as a late entrant in an overseas war, a war that many Americans wanted no part of. Accordingly, the Germans were recast as "Huns" to whom all sorts of atrocity tales were attributed, and suddenly everything Germanic became anathema.

German-Americans sought to avoid being branded as disloyalists, traitors, or spies by declaring themselves to be Dutch or anglicizing their names, and common items with German names were retitled: sauerkraut became "victory cabbage," hamburgers turned into "liberty sandwiches," and "hamburger steak" was henceforth known as "Salisbury steak." And a young comic named Julius Marx, who came from a German family and who was touring America in a vaudeville show with his three brothers, altered the persona of his stage character from German to Yiddish and finally to American. Julius would later became nationally famous as Groucho, one of the celebrated Marx Brothers. The renaming frenzy didn't carry over to World War II (in large part because the Nazis did such a thorough job of demonizing themselves), but one result of the Nazi era in Germany was the long-lasting stigmatization of the names "Adolph" and "Hitler." Thousands of people (on both sides of the conflict) bearing those names changed them in order to avoid any association with the notorious German dictator.

So when Marx Brothers fans eventually learned that although Harpo Marx had always stated his first name as Arthur, he had actually been born Adolph Marx, they naturally assumed he had changed his first name for a similar reason. In fact, this was a retroactive explanation for a transition that had actually taken place many years earlier. Although Harpo was indeed born under the name of Adolph Marx, he had quickly been nicknamed "Ahdie," a name he much preferred to Adolph — so much so that he eventually adopted the name Arthur in place of his given name. When exactly Adolph became Arthur is difficult to pin down, but the change seems to have been effected by 1911; and newspaper reviews of Marx Brothers performances document that he was identified as "Arthur" as early as 1913.

Thus Adolph Marx's name change demonstrably took place long before the world had heard of an Austrian named Adolf Hitler, well before the outbreak of World War I , and even a few years before that momentous day when the comic was tagged with the moniker of "Harpo." Last updated: 28 October 2014 Sources: Marx Brothers | American actors | Britannica.com American actors art Marx Brothers, American comedy team that was popular on stage, screen, and radio for 30 years. They were celebrated for their inventive attacks on the socially respectable and upon ordered society in general. Five Marx brothers became entertainers: Chico Marx (original name Leonard Marx; b. March 22, 1887, New York, New York, U.S.—d. October 11, 1961, Hollywood, California), Harpo (original name Adolph Marx, later Arthur Marx; b. November 23, 1888, New York City—d. September 28, 1964, Hollywood), Groucho (original name Julius Henry Marx; b. October 2, 1890, New York City—d.

August 19, 1977, Los Angeles, California), Gummo (original name Milton Marx; b. October 23, 1892, New York City—d. April 21, 1977, Palm Springs, California), and Zeppo (original name Herbert Marx; b. February 25, 1901, New York City—d. November 30, 1979, Palm Springs). The Marx Brothers—(left to right) Chico, Zeppo, Groucho, and Harpo—in … Paramount Pictures/The Kobal Collection The Marx Brothers were the sons of a tailor and a domineering stage mother, as well as the nephews of vaudeville headliner Al Shean of the popular team Gallagher and Shean . In 1904 Groucho became the first of the brothers to appear onstage, when he joined a singing trio. He was eventually joined by Gummo, Harpo, and Chico in what, after a long series of incarnations, evolved into a comedy act.

For several mostly successful years in burlesque and vaudeville, the brothers’ stage act consisted of songs, dances, musical specialities by Harpo (on harp) and Chico (on piano), and the Marx’s own brand of chaotic humour. They scored a major triumph on Broadway with their musical-comedy revue I’ll Say She Is (1924), by which time Zeppo had replaced Gummo. In what proved to be a turning point in their careers, the show endeared them to Alexander Woollcott , the most prominent and influential drama critic of the time. His close friendship with Harpo led to the brothers’ association with members of the Algonquin Round Table and other members of New York’s cultural elite. Although they had little formal education, the Marxes were feted by scholars and intellectuals throughout their lives, and they counted among their personal friends luminaries such as Woollcott, George S. Kaufman, S.J. Perelman, T.S. Eliot, George Gershwin , and several other noted writers and composers. Similar Topics the Three Stooges By 1924 the brothers’ act had evolved into its familiar incarnation.

Groucho was the master of wit and verbal timing, and he delivered wisecracks and non sequiturs at a dizzying, relentless pace; his visual trademarks included greasepainted eyebrows and mustache, glasses, tailcoat, and ever-present cigar. Harpo played a mute, clad in rags and battered top hat, who communicated through gestures, whistles, horn-honking, and wild facial expressions; his character is that of pure, unbridled emotion and impulse, devilish and angelic in equal measure. Although he had no formal musical training, Harpo was a proficient harpist, and virtually all Marx Brothers films feature one of his impressive solos. Although Groucho and Harpo are regarded as the comic geniuses of the act, audiences found Chico the most immediately ingratiating. In the manner of dialect comedians of the time, Chico adopted a bogus Italian accent for his character of a somewhat thick-headed shyster with a heart of gold. He was not in Harpo’s league as a musician, but his dexterous “trick” piano playing was an audience favourite.

Zeppo, who dropped out of the act after the team’s first five films, played a straight character and was usually given little to do, although certain film scenes (such as the letter-writing routine in Animal Crackers) indicate that he too had a sound sense of comic timing. The success of I’ll Say She Is enabled the brothers to secure Broadway’s most prestigious talents for their next show. As produced by Sam Harris, and with a book by George S. Kaufman and songs by Irving Berlin , The Cocoanuts (1925) ran for more than two years on Broadway and on tour. After the hit Animal Crackers (1928), the brothers turned their attentions to the new medium of sound motion pictures. Their first film was a screen adaptation of The Cocoanuts (1929), filmed at New York’s Astoria Studios during the day while the brothers performed Animal Crackers onstage at night. Although the film suffers from the technical shortcomings typical of early sound films, the team’s comedy shines through. By 1930, when they filmed Animal Crackers, most of the problems with sound had been solved, and the film is now recognized as their first classic.

The stage and screen incarnations of both shows also featured Margaret Dumont , a stately, dowager-type actress who proved a most effective and eternally flustered foil for Groucho in seven of the team’s films. Britannica Stories Scientists Ponder Menopause in Killer Whales Pleased with the success of their first two films, Paramount Pictures extended the Marx Brothers’ contract, which they fulfilled with three of their greatest comedies: Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and Duck Soup (1933). Among their wildest, most anarchic efforts, the three films mercilessly lampoon moneyed society, higher education, and warring governments. They are again filled with Groucho’s verbal effrontery (in lines such as “Remember, men, we’re fighting for this woman’s honor, which is probably more than she ever did!”) and surreal sight gags such as a live, barking dog that emerges from a doghouse tattooed on Harpo’s chest. Monkey Business and Horse Feathers were enormously popular with Depression-era audiences, but the political satire Duck Soup (directed by the renowned Leo McCarey ) was a box-office disappointment.

It is today, however, regarded as one of the great film comedies of the 1930s. After their Paramount films, Zeppo quit the act and subsequently became a successful talent agent. You Can’t Handle the Truth: Famous Movie Quotes Following the failure of Duck Soup, Paramount did not renew the team’s contract. Irving Thalberg , one of the most powerful producers in film history, took an interest in the brothers and signed them to a two-picture deal for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . The resulting films, A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), proved the team’s most financially successful and are regarded among their best efforts. Thalberg introduced elements into their comedy designed to increase their commercial appeal: the Marx Brothers’ characters were still recognizable, but Thalberg set them firmly in the real world and minimized surreal elements, while turning Groucho, Harpo, and Chico into semi-sympathetic, somewhat heroic characters. This approach worked quite well for these two films—largely because Thalberg supplied the team with top-calibre writing talent—but became clichéd and formulaic in later Marx vehicles.

Sadly, Thalberg died a few days after shooting on A Day at the Races had begun, and the Marxes never again worked with a producer as sympathetic to their needs or as attuned to their style of comedy. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The team next starred for RKO Radio Pictures in an adaptation of the stage hit Room Service (1938). This was the only film in which they worked with a script not written specifically for them, and the results were mixed. Back at MGM the following year, the brothers found themselves under the guidance of Louis B. Mayer , who reputedly never cared for their style of comedy and refused to provide them with the calibre of writers, composers, and directors they had enjoyed under Thalberg. Their final three MGM films—At the Circus (1939), Go West (1940), and The Big Store (1941)—lacked the quality of their earlier work and were much less successful, and in 1941 the brothers announced their retirement as a team.

For the next few years, Groucho performed frequently on radio, Harpo appeared on the stage, Chico led his own big band, and all three toured individually and entertained troops during the war years. They reteamed for two more films, the enjoyable A Night in Casablanca (1946) and the embarrassing Love Happy (1949), the latter being most notable for a cameo appearance by the young Marilyn Monroe . In later years Harpo and Chico were semiretired, but they made occasional appearances, together and separately, on television and in nightclubs. The most enduringly successful of the brothers was Groucho, who in 1947 debuted his comedy quiz show You Bet Your Life on network radio. The show transferred to television in 1950 and ended its long run in 1961. The quiz itself had little to do with the show’s success; its main attraction was the banter between Groucho and the contestants.

Groucho also wrote several books (including the autobiographies Groucho and Me, 1959, and Memoirs of a Mangy Lover, 1963) and continued performing into his eighties, including a sold-out, one-man show at Carnegie Hall in 1972. An episode from the pioneering television game show You Bet Your Life (1950–61), … Public Domain video The Marx Brothers on Apple Music To preview a song, mouse over the title and click Play. Open iTunes to buy and download music. Biography On-stage and in film, the Marx Brothers' antic comedy won millions of fans and left a major pop cultural legacy. Movies like The Coconuts (1929) and A Night at the Opera (1935) remain popular, and both Groucho Marx's wisecracking persona and Harpo Marx's silent, woman-crazed clown remain well-known icons.

From their beginnings in vaudeville during the 1910s, to their rise as popular film comics during the Depression, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx delivered an energetic, anarchic comedy that seemed to overflow both the stage and the screen. The Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany, and all were born in New York City to Simon Marrix (later changed to Marx) and Minnie Schonberg. The first son, Manfred, died in infancy. Leonard Marx was born on March 22, 1887, and later adopted Chico as his stage name; Adolph Marx (later Arthur) was born on November 23, 1888, and adopted the stage name Harpo; Julius Henry Marx was born on October 2, 1890, and used Groucho as his stage name; Milton Marx was born on October 23, 1892, and adapted the alias Gummo; and Herbert Marx, born on February 25, 1901, would be known as Zeppo. From an early age, the brothers were encouraged to express their artistic side.

Harpo, naturally, played the harp, Groucho the guitar, and Chico the piano. In 1910 three of the brothers along with Mabel O'Donnell, Minnie Marx, and an aunt formed a singing troupe, the Six Mascots. While performing in Texas in 1912, Groucho, who had become irritated at the audience's inattention, made snide remarks. Instead of becoming angry, however, the audience laughed. From that point, the Marx family evolved into a comedy act, eventually comprised of Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo. During the 1920s, the Marx Brothers rose to fame in series of Broadway musical revues including I'll Say She Is, The Coconuts, and Animal Crackers. The latter two revues would become the brothers' first two movies in 1929 and 1930. Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo then made three more films for Paramount, Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and their most critically regarded film, Duck Soup (1933).

After 1933, Zeppo left the team, and the Marx Brothers moved to Warner Brothers, where they made A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. While the Marx Brothers are best known for their work in film, the trio and quartet can also be enjoyed on a number of recordings. The Marx Brothers Play & Sing is a three-disc box set of musical numbers from Coconuts, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, At the Circus, Room Service, Go West, and The Big Store. Best of the Marx Brothers is a one-disc collection featuring oddities like "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" and "Mama Wants to Know Who Stole the Jam." Chico Marx died on October 11, 1961; Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964; Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977; Gummo Marx died on April 21, 1977; and Zeppo Marx died on November 30, 1979. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Top Albums Harpo Marx (Adolph/Arthur) - The Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers Support this site, shop here: Search: Born: November 23, 1888 in New York City, NY Died: September 28, 1964 in Los Angeles Drawing by Salvador Dali from an article in Theatre Arts Monthly, October 1939 Harpo was the second oldest and the one who never spoke. Not entirely true. He spoke quite regularly on stage until the production of "Home Again". Les Marsden had some more information about Harpo's 'speaking career': "He still had a about six lines in "Home Again", but uncle Al Shean simply didn't think he delivered lines all that well. Harpo was so upset that after they had toured the show in vaudeville for awhile and were playing (according to Harpo) the theatre in Champaign, Illinois, Harpo decided to ad-lib all through the performance. A critic in the local newspaper described the show by saying, in part, "Adolph Marx performed beautiful pantomime which was ruined whenever he spoke." Harpo then decided he could do a better job of stealing focus by not speaking.

And he really did continue to speak on stage regularly - just whenever he felt like it. For example, on opening night of 'Animal Crackers' he tackled Margaret Irving and proceeded to tell her a well....let's just say a questionable joke. Groucho, Chico and Zeppo came out onstage and did a running commentary. But he did speak extemporaneously onstage on occasion. Just not from a script and not often. Steve Allen has told me (and has also recounted the tale in various books, etc) all about the evening Harpo left show business during Allen Sherman's show in Pasadena, during which he spoke for several minutes to a stunned audience." Harpo was given the name Adolph, but changed it to Arthur during World War I because it was too 'German'. Through Alexander Woollcott the theater critic, who was responsible for their first big success in New York, Harpo became a member of the Algonquin Round Table. In 1936 he married actress Susan Fleming. They adopted four children Bill, Alex, Jimmy and Minnie. Harpo on I Love Lucy Harpo speaks Harpo never spoke in a movie, but his voice has been recorded, as you can hear here.

"Harpo's harps" by Les Marsden "Harpo rarely played the same harp twice in a movie, and in some movies didn't play a harp at all (Go West harp is actually a loom, At the Races is the dismantled frame of a grand piano, and Duck Soup....well, we all know about that one.) They were usually his own harps but he changed models a lot, particularly in the early years. Eventually, he owned two Lyon & Healy Gold-Gilt Concert Grands, model #24. He had those two harps for years and shortly after his death, Susan was asked to judge a harp competition in Israel. She insisted that Bill come along as well because she knew nothing about the mechanics of harpistry. They both decided to take the two harps along and donate them to two university harp departments in Israel, with the only proviso being that they were not to go in glass cases, but instead were to be used. Upon arrival in Israel, the customs agents demanded a 100% duty payment from Susan and she said 'what?

I'm trying to donate these harps to you!' and was ready (as she told me) to get back on the plane and take the damn harps back home when a governmental official broke through and announced that they'd be happy to take the harps for free! I've heard from other sources that the harps were marked as Harpo's with small plaques but that they indeed were (and hopefully still are) used as Susan intended." © Les Marsden, 1998 Susan Marx Susan Marx died in December 2002. Here is a news item about her: Susan Marx died shortly before midnight Sunday [22 Dec 2002] at Eisenhower Medical Center after suffering a massive heart attack. She was 94. Her son, pianist Bill Marx, was at her bedside just hours after concluding a talk about his father in a benefit for the Jewish Community School with a rendition of "Sunrise Sunset." Bill Marx said there were three phases of his mother's life: her early show biz life as Susan Fleming, her personal life as Mrs. Harpo Marx, and her life of public service as Susan Marx.

Born in Brooklyn, she started her career as a stage actress, working her way up to the top musical revue on Broadway, "The Ziegfeld Follies," in the 1920s. She followed the opportunities to Hollywood in 1931 when she appeared as John Wayne's love interest in "Range Feud." As a Paramount actress, she actually made more movies than the Marx Brothers, with her peak coming in the 1932 comedy "Million Dollar Legs" with W.C. Fields. Her best friend, Gloria Stuart, co-star in the blockbuster film "Titanic," remembered she got a big Hollywood buildup for that film. "The publicity was, she was Susan Fleming with the million-dollar legs," Stuart recalled. "She starred, and her legs were insured for a million dollars." But Bill Marx said his mother hated the movie business. When she met Harpo Marx at Paramount, she courted him -- even proposing to the silent Marx Brothers comedian three times. She and Harpo adopted four children. She began studies to enrich her life with Stuart, whose husband wrote for the Marx Brothers. They studied cooking, stamp collecting and Bonsai tree-shaping.

"She was very forthright, certainly beautifully centered," Stuart said. "When she took up one of her various interests, it was always 100 percent." Susan Marx is survived by her four children, Bill of Rancho Mirage, Alexander of Vallejo, Jim of Paso Robles and Minnie Eagle of Orange. She had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Harpo Marx appeared in the following movies: Film Title The Marx Brothers | New Music And Songs | The Marx Brothers About The Marx Brothers On-stage and in film, the Marx Brothers' antic comedy won millions of fans and left a major pop cultural legacy. Movies like The Coconuts (1929) and A Night at the Opera (1935) remain popular, and both Groucho Marx's wisecracking persona and Harpo Marx's silent, woman-crazed clown remain well-known icons. From their beginnings in vaudeville during the 1910s, to their rise as popular film comics during the Depression, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx delivered an energetic, anarchic comedy that seemed to overflow both the stage and the screen.

The Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany, and all were born in New York City to Simon Marrix (later changed to Marx) and Minnie Schonberg. The first son, Manfred, died in infancy. Leonard Marx was born on March 22, 1887, and later adopted Chico as his stage name; Adolph Marx (later Arthur) was born on November 23, 1888, and adopted the stage name Harpo; Julius Henry Marx was born on October 2, 1890, and used Groucho as his stage name; Milton Marx was born on October 23, 1892, and adapted the alias Gummo; and Herbert Marx, born on February 25, 1901, would be known as Zeppo. From an early age, the brothers were encouraged to express their artistic side. Harpo, naturally, played the harp, Groucho the guitar, and Chico the piano. In 1910 three of the brothers along with Mabel O'Donnell, Minnie Marx, and an aunt formed a singing troupe, the Six Mascots.

While performing in Texas in 1912, Groucho, who had become irritated at the audience's inattention, made snide remarks. Instead of becoming angry, however, the audience laughed. From that point, the Marx family evolved into a comedy act, eventually comprised of Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo. During the 1920s, the Marx Brothers rose to fame in series of Broadway musical revues including I'll Say She Is, The Coconuts, and Animal Crackers. The latter two revues would become the brothers' first two movies in 1929 and 1930. Chico, Harpo, Groucho, and Zeppo then made three more films for Paramount, Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and their most critically regarded film, Duck Soup (1933). After 1933, Zeppo left the team, and the Marx Brothers moved to Warner Brothers, where they made A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. While the Marx Brothers are best known for their work in film, the trio and quartet can also be enjoyed on a number of recordings.

The Marx Brothers Play & Sing is a three-disc box set of musical numbers from Coconuts, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, At the Circus, Room Service, Go West, and The Big Store. Best of the Marx Brothers is a one-disc collection featuring oddities like "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" and "Mama Wants to Know Who Stole the Jam." Chico Marx died on October 11, 1961; Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964; Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977; Gummo Marx died on April 21, 1977; and Zeppo Marx died on November 30, 1979. ~ Ronnie D.

Lankford, Jr., Rovi Hear more of The Marx Brothers: Adolph Arthur "Harpo" Marx Adolph Arthur "Harpo" Marx Born: November 23, 1888 in New York City, NY Died: September 28, 1964 in Los Angeles Drawing by Salvador Dali from an article in Theatre Arts Monthly, October 1939 Harpo was the second oldest and the one who never spoke. Not entirely true. He spoke quite regularly on stage until the production of "Home Again". Les Marsden had some more information about Harpo's 'speaking career': "He still had a about six lines in "Home Again", but uncle Al Shean simply didn't think he delivered lines all that well. Harpo was so upset that after they had toured the show in vaudeville for awhile and were playing (according to Harpo) the theatre in Champagne, Illinois, Harpo decided to ad-lib all through the performance. A critic in the local newspaper described the show by saying, in part, "Adolph Marx performed beautiful pantomime which was ruined whenever he spoke." Harpo then decided he could do a better job of stealing focus by not speaking.

And he really did continue to speak on stage regularly - just whenever he felt like it. For example, on opening night of 'Animal Crackers' he tackled Margaret Irving and proceeded to tell her a well....let's just say a questionable joke. Groucho, Chico and Zeppo came out onstage and did a running commentary. But he did speak extemporaneously onstage on occasion. Just not from a script and not often. Steve Allen has told me (and has also recounted the tale in various books, etc) all about the evening Harpo left show business during Allen Sherman's show in Pasadena, during which he spoke for several minutes to a stunned audience." Harpo was given the name Adolph, but changed it to Arthur during World War I because it was too 'German'. Through Alexander Woollcott the theater critic, who was responsible for their first big success in New York, Harpo became a member of the Algonquin Round Table. In 1936 he married actress Susan Fleming. They adopted four children Bill, Alex, Jimmy and Minnie.

"Harpo's harps" by Les Marsden "Harpo rarely played the same harp twice in a movie, and in some movies didn't play a harp at all (Go West harp is actually a loom, At the Races is the dismantled frame of a grand piano, and Duck Soup....well, we all know about that one.) They were usually his own harps but he changed models a lot, particularly in the early years. Eventually, he owned two Lyon & Healy Gold-Gilt Concert Grands, model #24. He had those two harps for years and shortly after his death, Susan was asked to judge a harp competition in Israel. She insisted that Bill come along as well because she knew nothing about the mechanics of harpistry. They both decided to take the two harps along and donate them to two university harp departments in Israel, with the only proviso being that they were not to go in glass cases, but instead were to be used. Upon arrival in Israel, the customs agents demanded a 100% duty payment from Susan and she said 'what?

I'm trying to donate these harps to you!' and was ready (as she told me) to get back on the plane and take the damn harps back home when a governmental official broke through and announced that they'd be happy to take the harps for free! I've heard from other sources that the harps were marked as Harpo's with small plaques but that they indeed were (and hopefully still are) used as Susan intended." � Les Marsden, 1998 Harpo's and Susan's children Minnie is married to Jerry Eagle Alex retired from his career as a submarine mechanic with the military. He and his wife Carol and two stepdaughters live in Vallejo. Jim owned a pottery shop and separate studio in San Luis Obispo. The shop was called 'Mudslingers'. He lost the store in a divorce about 1980 and is now happily remarried (different wife) and works at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant. Bill moved to Palm Springs from Pacific Palisades. He still appears in public, playing on Moday nights in a bar in Palm Springs.

He's currently (1998) writing a musical review which takes as its subject matter Palm Springs; he's also revising the two-hander touring act he played a few years ago with harpist Carrol McLaughlin as a SOLO act. Since 1995, he is happily married to Barbara. Susan Marx Susan Marx died in December 2002. Here is a news item about her: Susan Marx died shortly before midnight Sunday [22 Dec 2002] at Eisenhower Medical Center after suffering a massive heart attack. She was 94. Her son, pianist Bill Marx, was at her bedside just hours after concluding a talk about his father in a benefit for the Jewish Community School with a rendition of "Sunrise Sunset." Bill Marx said there were three phases of his mother's life: her early show biz life as Susan Fleming, her personal life as Mrs. Harpo Marx, and her life of public service as Susan Marx. Born in Brooklyn, she started her career as a stage actress, working her way up to the top musical revue on Broadway, "The Ziegfeld Follies," in the 1920s.

She followed the opportunities to Hollywood in 1931 when she appeared as John Wayne's love interest in "Range Feud." As a Paramount actress, she actually made more movies than the Marx Brothers, with her peak coming in the 1932 comedy "Million Dollar Legs" with W.C. Fields. Her best friend, Gloria Stuart, co-star in the blockbuster film "Titanic," remembered she got a big Hollywood buildup for that film. "The publicity was, she was Susan Fleming with the million-dollar legs," Stuart recalled. "She starred, and her legs were insured for a million dollars." But Bill Marx said his mother hated the movie business. When she met Harpo Marx at Paramount, she courted him -- even proposing to the silent Marx Brothers comedian three times. She and Harpo adopted four children. She began studies to enrich her life with Stuart, whose husband wrote for the Marx Brothers. They studied cooking, stamp collecting and Bonsai tree-shaping. "She was very forthright, certainly beautifully centered," Stuart said.

"When she took up one of her various interests, it was always 100 percent." Susan Marx is survived by her four children, Bill of Rancho Mirage, Alexander of Vallejo, Jim of Paso Robles and Minnie Eagle of Orange. She had five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Harpo speaks Harpo never spoke in a movie, but his voice has been recorded, as you can hear here. Harpo Marx appeared in the following movies: Film Title Marxology - One For All And Two For Five ... - The Marx Brothers Marxology - One For All And Two For Five ... Support this site, shop here: search: keywords: [ Main Page ] | [ History ] | [ Vaudeville ] | [ Misc. ] | [ Films & Film Projects] One For All And Two For Five ... "One for all and two for five, we're four of the three musketeers". These lines from Musketeers by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby in the stage version of Animal Crackers expresses the zany, loyal camaraderie that glued the Marx Brothers together.

There were of course five musketeers and their loyality engulfed all of their family, both in the past, in the presence and in the future. Their father Sam was born in October 1860 in the French province of Alsace (annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71), hence Sam's affectionate family nickname of "Frenchie". Groucho at one point names the town of Strassbourg and Belgian Marx-fan and genealogist Jurgen De Clercq has found that Sam lived in the Alsatian town of Mulhouse, and possibly emigrated to America from there. Maybe he was born in Strassbourg and moved to Mulhouse later. The original first name seems to have been Simon, whose Jewish Yiddish cognomen of Shimen might have mutated into Shmuel, Samuel and finally Sam. The family tale gives him the original last name of Marrix, but there is no verifiable trace of this. His marriage certificate names him Marks and lists his father as Mark Marks and his mother as Hanne.

The marriage took place on 18 January 1885, with Simon/Samuel marrying another German immigrant, Minnie Schönberg. Born in Prussia on 9 November 1864 as Miene, later Minna, she had arrived to the new land with her parents Levy "Lafe" Schönberg (1823-1920) and Fanny Sophie Salomons (1829-1901), sisters Schontje (born 1850), Celine, Sara (born 1858), Jette (1859-1862), Hannchen (alias Hannah, born 1862), and brothers Abraham Elieser Adolph (alias Al Shean , 1868-1948) and Heine/Heinemann/Henry ("Harry Shean", born 1873). The musical and theatrical talents came from the Schönbergs and legend has it that Grandpa Lafe was a famous magician and ventriloquist back in Germany in the 19th century while Grandma Fanny played the harp.

Manfred, the first Marx Brother, was born in January 1886 but survived for only a couple of months. A death certificate of the Borough of Manhattan (unearthed by Simon Louvish) reveals that he died aged seven months on 17 July 1886 of "entero-colitis, with asthenia contributing", i.e., probably a victim of influenza. He is buried at New York's Washington Cemetery beside his grandmother Fanny Schönberg, who died on 10 April 1901. According to Groucho, mother Minnie once said: "Sam can cough all night and I never hear him, but if one of my boys coughs just once, I'm wide awake". With the sad fate of Manfred in mind we can appreciate that statement more fully. It was probably because of Manfred's death that Chico, the eldest surviving son, was showered with his parents' frustrated love. He was born on 22 March 1887 as Leo (a probable Americanization of the name of grandfather Levy), which later mutated into Leonard.

Harpo was born on 23 November 1888 and was originally named Adolph after his famous uncle Abraham Elieser Adolph "Al" Shean . The nickname Ahdie often became Artie, which paved the way for a later change to Arthur. And contrary to popular belief, Harpo made the change from Adolph to Arthur long before that Austrian corporal rose to power in Germany. Next in line was Groucho, born Julius Henry on 2 October 1890, followed by Gummo who was born Milton on 23 October 1892. Zeppo, the late addition born on 25 February 1901, always felt the weight of four living brothers and a dead one (he was even named Herbert Manfred) bearing down on him. The short life of Manfred Marx probably shaped his surviving brothers more than might have been realized before by the way they came to be treated by their parents. As it happened, Chico was a fiercely protected child, favoured over and above the others, and particularly over Groucho, whom Minnie often referred to by uneasy terms like der Eifersüchtige ("the jealous one") or der Dunkle ("the dark one").

"I wonder what would have become of Mannie", Groucho wisely pondered in an interview with Charlotte Chandler in the book Hello, I Must Be Going, and we might as well wonder what would have become of the Marx Brothers if Mannie had survived. Pauline, a daughter born in New York in January 1885 was also listed as one of the children of Sam and Minnie Marx in a city census made on 8 June 1900. She was in fact the daughter of Minnie's sister Hannah, thus a cousin of the Marx Brothers who'd (as Harpo wrote in his autobiography) "been adopted as one of us". The paternity of Pauline is unclear as Hannah, under the name Joanna Lefevre, is listed as a widow in the Manhattan City Directory of 1890-91. In 1881, Hannah had married the grocer Max Lefevre, father of Hannah's first child Louis (who enjoyed a brief career as Lou Shean together with Chico circa 1911). If Max Lefevre was proclaimed dead after the standard vanishment of seven years, this would preclude him from having fathered Pauline.

Also, with Sam and Minnie's marriage revealed as 18 January 1885, instead of the stated year of 1884, they've clearly moved their marriage back a little to accommodate Pauline's birth in January 1885. It was probably a necessary protection if Pauline was illegitimate in an age when that stigma could destroy lives. THE MARX FAMILY Groucho, Gummo, Minnie, Zeppo, Frenchie, Chico and Harpo< Nevertheless, the presence of Pauline (a.k.a. Polly or even Sally, as Groucho named her in his autobiography) meant that the Marx Brothers grew up from their early childhood with an elder sister. This solemn and older foil may in fact have been an embryonic Margaret Dumont for the growing mischief makers, and the character Peerless Pauline in At the Circus may be named after her. In 1903, Polly (still registered as Pauline Marx) married a tailor named Sam Müller.

They had four children and were still in the family fold in 1932, when a panoramic photo-portrait of a family reunion in New York show them present with their eldest daughter Beatrice (another female name that popped up years later in one of the Marxes' films, A Night In Casablanca ). Aunt Hannah (under the name of Johannah Lefever) had married one Julius Schickler in 1892. Groucho claimed to have been named after Schickler, owing to Minnie's misconception that he was a man of means, although (as Groucho later claimed) it turned out that he was not only without funds, but owed Sam Marx thirty-four dollars. The Henry added to baby Julius' name was probably in honour of Minnie's and Hannah's brother Heinie. A possible seventh Marx Brother was discovered by Simon Louvish in a city census of 1905. This census records a younger Marks child after Herbert as "Sam - age three"!

In later years there was said to be a relationship with a Samuel Marx, a 1930s Hollywood story editor and producer for MGM Studios who did claim to be a distant relative of the Marx Brothers in his own book A Gaudy Spree, published in 1987. As this Sam Marx was born in 1902, the possibility that he was the lost seventh brother is delicious but unsupported by the facts which record his father as Broadway theatrical tailor Max Marx. Louvish speculates that baby Sam ("as a distant cousin") may have visited Frenchie's household on that census day of 1905 and got caught up in early Marxian mischief. There was yet another Samuel Marx in New York, a powerful Tammany Hall politician, and according to the Marxian family tale it was in order to get a spurious family relationship with him that Frenchie changed his last name from Marrix to Marx. Louvish has found no real evidence of any blood relationship between all these Marxes, although in his autobiography, Harpo included all of them in the family as "cousins"; "Sam Marx ran an auction house near the Grand Army Plaza, and he was a wheel in Tammany Hall.

Sam's younger brother, Cousin Max, I didn't know so well. He was a theatrical tailor and a good one, so Frenchie was leery of talking shop with him and preferred to remain aloof. I thought 'Max Marx' was about the dandiest name a man could have, with the main exception of 'James J. Jeffries' ". Whose cousins these Marxes were supposed to be is unclear, especially as Harpo in a later passage confuses the relationship further by mentioning that he never got arrested while perusing the streets of New York as a juvenile delinquent because "my Uncle Sam the auctioneer, don't forget, was a wheel in Tammany Hall. Nephews of men in the Organization did not get arrested.". The Marx Brothers | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. On-stage and in film, the Marx Brothers ' antic comedy won millions of fans and left a major pop cultural legacy.

Movies like The Coconuts (1929) and A Night at the Opera (1935) remain popular, and both Groucho Marx 's wisecracking persona and Harpo Marx 's silent, woman-crazed clown remain well-known icons. From their beginnings in vaudeville during the 1910s, to their rise as popular film comics during the Depression, Chico , Harpo , Groucho , Gummo, and Zeppo Marx delivered an energetic, anarchic comedy that seemed to overflow both the stage and the screen. The Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany, and all were born in New York City to Simon Marrix (later changed to Marx) and Minnie Schonberg. The first son, Manfred, died in infancy.

Leonard Marx was born on March 22, 1887, and later adopted Chico as his stage name; Adolph Marx (later Arthur) was born on November 23, 1888, and adopted the stage name Harpo ; Julius Henry Marx was born on October 2, 1890, and used Groucho as his stage name; Milton Marx was born on October 23, 1892, and adapted the alias Gummo; and Herbert Marx, born on February 25, 1901, would be known as Zeppo . From an early age, the brothers were encouraged to express their artistic side. Harpo , naturally, played the harp, Groucho the guitar, and Chico the piano. In 1910 three of the brothers along with Mabel O'Donnell, Minnie Marx, and an aunt formed a singing troupe, the Six Mascots. While performing in Texas in 1912, Groucho , who had become irritated at the audience's inattention, made snide remarks. Instead of becoming angry, however, the audience laughed.

From that point, the Marx family evolved into a comedy act, eventually comprised of Chico , Harpo , Groucho , and Zeppo . During the 1920s, the Marx Brothers rose to fame in series of Broadway musical revues including I'll Say She Is, The Coconuts, and Animal Crackers. The latter two revues would become the brothers' first two movies in 1929 and 1930. Chico , Harpo , Groucho , and Zeppo then made three more films for Paramount, Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and their most critically regarded film, Duck Soup (1933). After 1933, Zeppo left the team, and the Marx Brothers moved to Warner Brothers, where they made A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. While the Marx Brothers are best known for their work in film, the trio and quartet can also be enjoyed on a number of recordings.

The Marx Brothers Play & Sing is a three-disc box set of musical numbers from Coconuts, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, At the Circus, Room Service, Go West, and The Big Store. Best of the Marx Brothers is a one-disc collection featuring oddities like "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" and "Mama Wants to Know Who Stole the Jam." Chico Marx died on October 11, 1961; Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964; Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977; Gummo Marx died on April 21, 1977; and Zeppo Marx died on November 30, 1979.

Harpo Marx: 10 things you might not know Harpo Marx: 10 things you might not know Harpo Marx Credit: Rex Features Martin Chilton , Culture Editor 4 January 2016 • 4:20pm Harpo Marx was one of the most noted comedians of the 20th century as part of the famous Marx Brothers, including Groucho. Harpo died, aged 75, on September 28 1964. Here are 10 things you may not know about him: HARPO'S REAL NAME WAS ADOLPH Harpo Marx was born Adolph Marx on November 23 1888. He legally changed his given name to Arthur in 1911 because the New Yorker preferred it to his original German-sounding name. HE LOVED CROQUET Harpo was inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame in 1979. He would sometimes play 10-day tournaments with friends and had a special “cold room” built in his house for the express purpose of keeping his mallet collection free from potential humidity damage.

HE WAS TOTALLY BALD In real life, Harpo, who always wore his outlandish wig on stage, was totally bald, something that shocked the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson when she first met him. The pair struck up a friendship and his final professional appearance was on Jackson's album Let's Pray Together in 1964, when he accompanied her on the harp as she sang his own composition Guardian Angels. HE WAS ONLY PRETENDING TO BE MUTE The Marx Brothers made great play of Harpo's non-speaking character. In Animal Crackers his character was ironically dubbed The Professor and In The Cocoanuts, the following exchange occurred: Groucho: "Who is this?" Chico: "Dat's-a my partner, but he no speak." Groucho: "Oh, that's your silent partner!" Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx Credit: Rex Features HE PRACTISED THE HARP ON THE TOILET Harpo didn't start playing the harp until he was in his twenties, when his mother bought him one. It wasn't a very good harp and he was self-taught even though he didn't know how to read music.

He tuned it incorrectly and played it on the wrong shoulder. Later musicians would sometimes learn the Harpo Way. He was keen to improve and became a better harpist by practising at least three hours a day. He even had a harp in the bathroom so he could play while he sat on the toilet. Groucho Marx: 10 things you might not know HARPO BACKED JFK Harpo campaigned for John F Kennedy in 1960, doing publicity shots and interviews in a decorated golf buggy. He was a golf enthusiast and after he was cremated his ashes were sprinkled into the sand trap at the seventh hole of the Rancho Mirage golf course in California, USA where he played every month. DOROTHY PARKER WAS A PAL Although Harpo was only semi-literate, he became a regular fixture of the famed Algonquin Round Table alongside Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott and Robert Benchley. Harpo Marx Credit: Rex Features HE WAS AN ART LOVER Painting was his best form of relaxation and he collected fine art, including from his friend and admirer Salvador Dali . Harpo also bought the art of George Grosz, Thomas Hart Benton, Joseph Hirsch and LeRoy Nieman.

HARPO LOVED SIGHT GAGS He wore a trademark shabby coat in movies, from which he would pull out all manner of props, including a bicycle horn, or a lit candle burning at both ends. In one movie, he pulls a full-grown dog out of his coat. Harpo and his brothers once shared a bill with WC Fields , in 1915, and Fields said they were destined for great things, paying tribute to Harpo's "zany style". HE ADVERTISED PEPSI Harpo was much in demand by advertisers and among the products he made commercials for were Meyenberg's All Pure Evaporated Milk, Gillette Razor Blades, Labatt's Beer and Pepsi. Comedy latest 19 Jan 2017, 4:48pm Premium 13 Jan 2017, 6:30pm Interview 31 Dec 2016, 10:41am The Marx Brothers — Listen for free on Spotify The Marx Brothers Play on Spotify On-stage and in film, the Marx Brothers' antic comedy won millions of fans and left a major pop cultural legacy.

Movies like The Coconuts (1929) and A Night at the Opera (1935) remain popular, and both Groucho Marx 's wisecracking persona and Harpo Marx 's silent, woman-crazed clown remain well-known icons. From their beginnings in vaudeville during the 1910s, to their rise as popular film comics during the Depression, Chico, Harpo , Groucho , Gummo, and Zeppo Marx delivered an energetic, anarchic comedy that seemed to overflow both the stage and the screen. The Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany, and all were born in New York City to Simon Marrix (later changed to Marx) and Minnie Schonberg. The first son, Manfred, died in infancy.

Leonard Marx was born on March 22, 1887, and later adopted Chico as his stage name; Adolph Marx (later Arthur) was born on November 23, 1888, and adopted the stage name Harpo ; Julius Henry Marx was born on October 2, 1890, and used Groucho as his stage name; Milton Marx was born on October 23, 1892, and adapted the alias Gummo; and Herbert Marx, born on February 25, 1901, would be known as Zeppo. From an early age, the brothers were encouraged to express their artistic side. Harpo , naturally, played the harp, Groucho the guitar, and Chico the piano. In 1910 three of the brothers along with Mabel O'Donnell, Minnie Marx, and an aunt formed a singing troupe, the Six Mascots. While performing in Texas in 1912, Groucho , who had become irritated at the audience's inattention, made snide remarks. Instead of becoming angry, however, the audience laughed.

From that point, the Marx family evolved into a comedy act, eventually comprised of Chico, Harpo , Groucho , and Zeppo. During the 1920s, the Marx Brothers rose to fame in series of Broadway musical revues including I'll Say She Is, The Coconuts, and Animal Crackers. The latter two revues would become the brothers' first two movies in 1929 and 1930. Chico, Harpo , Groucho , and Zeppo then made three more films for Paramount, Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and their most critically regarded film, Duck Soup (1933). After 1933, Zeppo left the team, and the Marx Brothers moved to Warner Brothers, where they made A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. While the Marx Brothers are best known for their work in film, the trio and quartet can also be enjoyed on a number of recordings.

The Marx Brothers Play & Sing is a three-disc box set of musical numbers from Coconuts, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, At the Circus, Room Service, Go West, and The Big Store. Best of the Marx Brothers is a one-disc collection featuring oddities like "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" and "Mama Wants to Know Who Stole the Jam." Chico Marx died on October 11, 1961; Harpo Marx died on September 28, 1964; Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977; Gummo Marx died on April 21, 1977; and Zeppo Marx died on November 30, 1979. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi Read More Show less

Question: Which of the Marx brother's original name was Adolph?
Answer: Harpo