Harpo Marx Net Worth
Harpo Marx Net Worth is
$20 Million
Harpo Marx Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Adolph "Harpo" Marx (later Arthur "Harpo" Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, film star, mime artist and musician, and 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). He 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. | Date Of Birth | November 23, 1888 |
| Died | 1964-09-28 |
| Place Of Birth | New York City, New York, USA |
| Height | 5' 5½" (1.66 m) |
| Profession | Actor, Soundtrack, Writer |
| Spouse | Susan Fleming his death |
| Star Sign | Sagittarius |
| # | Trademark |
|---|---|
| 1 | In the Paramount films, his coat carried an infinite variety of items for whatever need whether it was a blowtorch for lighting cigarettes, a sword and fish for a speak-easy password, a candle burning at both ends, etc. |
| 2 | Usually wore a raincoat, beat up top hat and a red wig. Rarely spoke in his roles and never in films with his brothers. He would use pantomime and often had a bike horn to communicate with. He often had a scene where he would play a harp with great skill. |
| Title | Salary |
|---|---|
| A Day at the Races (1937) | $175,000 + 15% of gross |
| A Night at the Opera (1935) | $175,000 + 15% of gross |
| # | Quote |
|---|---|
| 1 | [on accommodation, while touring] Cheap hotels in the South and Southwest were apparently set up as bug sanctuaries by some Audubon Society for Insects. Fleas, ticks, bedbugs, cockroaches, beetles, scorpions and ants, having no enemies, attacked with fearless abandon. They had the run of the house and they knew it. After a while you just let them bite. Fighting back was useless. For every bug you squashed, a whole fresh, bloodthirsty platoon would march out of the woodwork. In one hotel hotel the ants were so bad that each bed was set on four pots of oxalic acid. |
| 2 | [on performing in vaudeville] If an audience didn't like us we had no trouble finding it out. We were pelted with sticks, bricks, spitballs, cigar butts, peach pits and chewed-out stalks of sugar cane. We took all this without flinching - until Minnie gave us the high-sign that we'd collected our share of the receipts. Then we started throwing stuff back at the audience and run like hell for the railroad station the second the curtain came down. |
| 3 | [describing how he was once thrown out of a New York brothel in the 1920s]: One night I'm playing the harp at this local brothel bar when I felt sick and I practically keeled off the stool. And the Madame says: "Get that son-of-a-bitch back on that stool and play! I've got customers here." So a minute later... again I fell off the stool. She said: "What the hell is the matter with him?" to one of the girls. The prostitute said to the Madame: "He must be sick. I think we should call a doctor." So, they sent for a doctor. Ten minutes later the doctor arrived, he looked at me, and he said to the Madame: "He's got the measles." The Madame said to the doctor: "Then get him the hell out of here. I don't want any sick Jews around me." |
| 4 | [on 'Duck Soup'] It was the only time I can remember that I worried about turning in a bad performance. The trouble was not with the script, the director, or the falls I had to take. The trouble was Adolf Hitler. His speeches were being rebroadcast in America. Somebody had a radio on the set, and twice we suspended shooting to listen to him scream. |
| 5 | The man who first inspired me was a guy called Gookie. Gookie had nothing to do with the theater. He rolled cigars in the window of a cigar store on Lexington Avenue. When he got going good he was completely lost in work, so absorbed that he had no idea what a comic face he was making. His tongue lolled out in a fat roll, his cheeks puffed out and his eyes popped out and crossed themselves. Over the years, in every comedy act or movie I ever worked in, I've thrown in a Gookie at least once. |
| 6 | [on comedy playwright George S. Kaufman] He had great integrity. You never had to watch him when he was dealing. |
| 7 | [on visiting Hamburg, Germany, shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power]: "I saw the most frightening, most depressing sight I had ever seen - a row of stores with Stars of David and the word 'Jude' painted on them, and inside, behind half-empty counters, people in a daze, cringing like they didn't know what hit them and didn't know where the next blow would come from. Hitler had been in power only six months, and his boycott was already in full effect. I hadn't been so wholly conscious of being a Jew since my bar mitzvahs, and it was the first time since I'd had the measles that I was too sick to eat." |
| 8 | I am the most fortunate self-taught harpist and non-speaking actor who has ever lived. |
| 9 | But I guess that's the way it is. When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost. you mourn for yourself. |
| 10 | [When asked how many children he'd like to have]: "So many that whenever we go out, there can be one in every window, waving to us." |
| 11 | If things get too much for you and you feel the whole world's against you, go stand on your head. If you can think of anything crazier to do, do it. |
| # | Fact |
|---|---|
| 1 | W.C. Fields said that The Marx Brothers were the only act he couldn't follow on the live stage. He is known to have appeared on the same bill with them only once, during an engagement at Keith's Orpheum Theatre in Columbus, OH, in January 1915. At the time the Marx Brothers were touring "Home Again", and it didn't take Fields long to realize how his quiet comedy juggling act was faring against the anarchy of the Marxes. Fields later wrote of the engagement (and the Marxes), "They sang, danced, played harp and kidded in zany style. Never saw so much nepotism or such hilarious laughter in one act in my life. The only act I could never follow . . . I told the manager I broke my wrist and quit.". |
| 2 | Was cousin of Sadie Marks - better known as Mary Livingston; brother-in-law of Benjamin Kubelsky, aka Jack Benny. |
| 3 | He and Chico were usually mistaken as twins when they were young. |
| 4 | At the beginning of the film Monkey Business (1931), The Marx Brothers, playing ship's stowaways concealed in barrels, are first introduced harmonizing unseen, singing the popular song "Sweet Adeline." And although he is cannot be seen, this musical performance marks the only time during one of The Marx Brothers' movie that Harpo's voice -- a clear and pleasant baritone -- is ever heard. |
| 5 | Although it is popularly believed that Harpo never spoke on film, he is faintly heard in the newsreel footage during the premiere of MGM's "The Great Ziegfeld" in 1936. He approaches the microphone without his wig and make-up and says to Joe Schenk just out of range of the mic: "You gotta do the talkin'." (in a very thick New York City accent) Harpo leans in to the mic after Schenk finishes speaking, and loudly says: "Honk! Honk!". |
| 6 | Served as the basis for the character Banjo in the long-running comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner" by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The play had one of its most memorable productions at the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania, where Kaufman played Sheridan Whitside (the character based on critic Alexander Woollcott, Hart played Beverly Carlton (the character based on Noël Coward, and Harpo played Banjo, speaking his first lines on stage in over twenty years. |
| 7 | Harpo was vacationing in the French Riviera and was engaged in nude sunbathing when he was surprised by an elderly man and woman. He wrapped his towel around his middle and stood up and introduced himself. The husband introduced himself as George Bernard Shaw, the famous writer and philosopher. Without warning Shaw snatched the towel away and then said, "And this is Mrs. Shaw!" It was the start of a lifelong friendship. |
| 8 | Is portrayed by 'J.M Henry' in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994). |
| 9 | Groucho Marx gave this reason for Harpo's silence: Once, while playing a theater in Winnipeg, Manitoba, during a vaudeville tour, The Marx Brothers had a disagreement with the theater's manager regarding their pay. At the end of The Marx Brothers' engagement there, the manager paid them the amount they had demanded...in several large sacks containing the proper amount in the form of pennies, nickels, and dimes. Since the brothers' train was departing in ten minutes, the brothers had no choice except to lug the sacks onto the train with them. As the train departed, Harpo shouted to the manager, "I hope your theater burns to the ground." And that night, it did. Groucho always said that Harpo's voice was like the axe hanging on the backstage wall of every theater: To be used only in case of emergencies. |
| 10 | Great-uncle of Jade Marx-Berti, Gregg Marx, Laura Guzik and Brett Marx |
| 11 | He was portrayed by actor Daniel Fortus in the Broadway musical "Minnie's Boys," which ran at the Imperial Theatre for 80 Performances from Mar 26 to May 30, 1970. |
| 12 | Once crashed a Hollywood costume party at the home of Marion Davies, dressed as Kaiser Wilhelm II. He had to hitchhike to get home and ended up being arrested by Beverly Hills police on charges of vagrancy, illegal entry, escaping from jail in Gloversville, New York, impersonating Kaiser Wilhelm II, and impersonating Harpo Marx. |
| 13 | The character of Banjo in George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's play "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is based on Harpo. |
| 14 | Was seldom recognized when out of character because he was almost completely bald. |
| 15 | Legally changed his given name to Arthur around 1911 because he much preferred it to the very German Adolph. |
| 16 | He was voted, as one of The Marx Brothers, the 62nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. |
| 17 | One of only two Marx Brothers to play a recurring role in their films (not counting when they used their own names). He played the role of "Pinky" in both Horse Feathers (1932) and Duck Soup (1933). |
| 18 | Died on the day of his 28th wedding anniversary. |
| 19 | Son of Sam Marx and Minnie Marx (nee Schoenberg). |
| 20 | Adopted father of Bill Marx, Alexander Marx, Minnie Marx and Jimmy Marx, from his marriage to Susan Fleming |
| 21 | Nephew of actor Al Shean. |
| 22 | Uncle of Arthur Marx, Miriam Marx, Bob Marx, Maxine Marx, and Melinda Marx. |
| 23 | Brother-in-law of Barbara Marx, Ruth Johnson, Kay Marvis and Eden Hartford, |
| 24 | Harpo officially became a mime after a theater critic noted in 1914 that Harpo was brilliant until his character spoke. From then on, Harpo never spoke while in character. |
| 25 | As a child, Harpo was apparently infatuated with music. He rejoiced when his family bought a piano. He then fell into dispair when he found out that they could only afford to let one brother have piano lessons. His brother Chico Marx ended up with the lessons, which he did not take seriously. Harpo, of course, later mastered the harp. |
| 26 | After his death, he was cremated and his ashes were allegedly sprinkled into the sand trap at the seventh hole of the Rancho Mirage golf course in California, USA where he used to play golf on a monthly basis. |
| 27 | Brother of Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, and Gummo Marx. |
| 28 | Harpo first using the gag of chasing a screaming girl as a quick prank to throw his brother Groucho Marx's timing off on stage. Groucho wasn't fazed, but Harpo got in trouble when he found out the hard way that the girl had a violent mobster for a boyfriend. He quickly made peace with the man and incorporated the girl chasing for the rest of his career. |
| 29 | When he taught himself to play the harp, he later learned that he played it the wrong way. However, when he became famous and wealthy, he on occasion throughout his career, took harp lessons from various harpists and music teachers in both New York City and Los Angeles to better increase his skill. However, due to his natural born talent, many musicians and music teachers ended up approaching him to learn his method of harp playing. |
| 30 | Recreated the mirror scene from Duck Soup (1933) in an episode of I Love Lucy (1951). |
Actor
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | 1962 | TV Series | Harpo Marx |
| The Red Skelton Hour | 1962 | TV Series | Guardian Angel |
| The DuPont Show with June Allyson | 1960 | TV Series | Benson |
| General Electric Theater | 1959 | TV Series | Nick |
| The DuPont Show of the Month | 1958 | TV Series | Narrator |
| The Story of Mankind | 1957 | Sir Isaac Newton | |
| Playhouse 90 | 1957 | TV Series | |
| I Love Lucy | 1955 | TV Series | Harpo Marx |
| The Colgate Comedy Hour | 1954 | TV Series | Governor |
| Season's Greetings | 1953 | TV Movie | |
| All Star Revue | 1953 | TV Series | Guest Comedian |
| The Ezio Pinza Show | 1952 | TV Series | |
| Love Happy | 1949 | Harpo | |
| A Night in Casablanca | 1946 | Rusty | |
| Stage Door Canteen | 1943 | Harpo Marx | |
| The Big Store | 1941 | Wacky | |
| Go West | 1940 | 'Rusty' Panello | |
| At the Circus | 1939 | 'Punchy' | |
| Room Service | 1938 | Faker Englund (as The Marx Brothers) | |
| A Day at the Races | 1937 | Stuffy (as The Marx Brothers) | |
| A Night at the Opera | 1935 | Tomasso | |
| Duck Soup | 1933 | Pinky | |
| Horse Feathers | 1932 | Pinky | |
| Monkey Business | 1931 | Harpo | |
| Animal Crackers | 1930 | The Professor | |
| The Cocoanuts | 1929 | Harpo | |
| Too Many Kisses | 1925 | The Village Peter Pan | |
| Humor Risk | 1921 | Short | Watson |
Soundtrack
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hannah and Her Sisters | 1986 | performer: "Freedonia's Going To War" - uncredited | |
| I Love Lucy | 1955 | TV Series performer - 1 episode | |
| Love Happy | 1949 | performer: "Happy Birthday to You" 1893, "Old Folks at Home Swanee River" 1851 - uncredited | |
| A Night in Casablanca | 1946 | performer: "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor" 1847 - uncredited | |
| The All-Star Bond Rally | 1945 | Short music: "Guardian Angels" - uncredited / performer: "Guardian Angels" - uncredited | |
| The Big Store | 1941 | performer: "Tenement Symphony" 1941, "Mamãe Eu Quero" 1937 uncredited, "Piano Sonata No. 15 in C major, K. 545 Sonata semplice" 1788 uncredited, "Minuet in G major, WoO 10, No. 2" uncredited | |
| Go West | 1940 | performer: "Ridin' the Range" 1940, "From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water" 1909 | |
| At the Circus | 1939 | "Jingle Bells" 1857, uncredited / performer: "Swingali" 1939, "Blue Moon" 1934, "Waltz #15 in A flat major: 'Lullaby', Op.39" 1865, "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Rock-a-Bye Baby" pub. 1765 - uncredited | |
| Room Service | 1938 | performer: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" circa 1872 - uncredited | |
| A Day at the Races | 1937 | performer: "Prelude in C-Sharp Minor" 1892, "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" 1937 - uncredited | |
| A Night at the Opera | 1935 | performer: "Alone" 1935 | |
| Duck Soup | 1933 | performer: "The Country's Going to War" 1933 - uncredited | |
| Horse Feathers | 1932 | performer: "Everyone Says I Love You" 1932 - uncredited | |
| Monkey Business | 1931 | "O Sole Mio" 1898, uncredited / performer: "I'm Daffy Over You" 1930, "Sweet Adeline" 1903 - uncredited | |
| Animal Crackers | 1930 | performer: "Gypsy Chorus" 1852, "Why Am I So Romantic?" 1930 - uncredited |
Writer
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love Happy | 1949 | based on a story by |
Self
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Golf | 1963 | TV Series | |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | 1961 | TV Series | Himself |
| You Bet Your Life | 1957-1961 | TV Series | Himself - Prom Commercial / Himself |
| Here's Hollywood | 1961 | TV Series | Himself |
| I've Got a Secret | 1961 | TV Series | Himself - Celebrity Guest |
| Today | 1961 | TV Series | Himself - Guest |
| The Ed Sullivan Show | 1961 | TV Series | Himself - Comedian |
| The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | 1961 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Milton Berle Show | 1959 | TV Series | Himself |
| Person to Person | 1958 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Tonight! | 1957 | TV Series | Himself |
| Tonight! America After Dark | 1957 | TV Series | Himself |
| The Martha Raye Show | 1956 | TV Series | Himself |
| Inside Beverly Hills | 1956 | TV Movie | Himself |
| Screen Snapshots: The Great Al Jolson | 1955 | Documentary short | Himself |
| The Spike Jones Show | 1954 | TV Series | Himself |
| All Star Revue | 1952 | TV Series | Himself - Guest Comic / Himself |
| The Colgate Comedy Hour | 1951-1952 | TV Series | Himself / Himself - Comedian / Harpist |
| The Actor's Society Benefit Gala | 1949 | TV Movie | Himself - Performer |
| The All-Star Bond Rally | 1945 | Short | Himself |
| La Fiesta de Santa Barbara | 1935 | Short | Himself |
| Hollywood on Parade No. B-6 | 1934 | Short | Himself |
| Hollywood on Parade No. 11 | 1933 | Short | Himself |
| Hollywood on Parade No. A-5 | 1932 | Short | Himself |
| Jackie Cooper's Birthday Party | 1931 | Documentary short | Himself |
| The House That Shadows Built | 1931 | Documentary | The Merchant of Wieners |
Archive Footage
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geno in the Evening | 2016 | TV Series | Various Roles |
| Welcome to the Basement | 2013 | TV Series | Himself |
| Edición Especial Coleccionista | 2011-2012 | TV Series | Tomasso / Punchy |
| Morir de humor | 2008 | TV Movie | |
| Hormigas blancas | 2007 | TV Series | Himself |
| Great Performances | 2005 | TV Series | Himself |
| Broadway: The American Musical | 2004 | TV Mini-Series documentary | The Professor |
| Funny Already: A History of Jewish Comedy | 2004 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| On Your Marx, Get Set, Go! | 2004 | Video documentary short | Stuffy |
| Remarks on Marx | 2004 | Video short | Tomasso |
| Inside the Marx Brothers | 2003 | Video documentary | Himself |
| I Love Lucy's 50th Anniversary Special | 2001 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Film Breaks | 1999 | TV Series documentary | |
| Classified X | 1998 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| American Masters | 1987-1997 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders and Ad-Libs | 1994 | Video | Guardian Angel |
| The Our Gang Story | 1994 | Video documentary | Himself |
| The Unknown Marx Brothers | 1993 | TV Movie documentary | Himself / Various Roles |
| Funny Business | 1992 | TV Series documentary | |
| Muppet Babies | 1988 | TV Series | |
| Entertaining the Troops | 1988 | Documentary | Himself |
| Biography | 1987 | TV Series documentary | Himself |
| Classic Comedy Teams | 1986 | Video documentary | Himself |
| Going Hollywood: The '30s | 1984 | Documentary | |
| Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | 1983 | Documentary | Himself (uncredited) |
| Showbiz Goes to War | 1982 | TV Movie | |
| The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell | 1982 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter | 1982 | TV Movie documentary | Actor - 'The Cocoanuts' (uncredited) |
| CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years | 1976 | TV Movie documentary | Himself |
| Bob Hope's World of Comedy | 1976 | TV Movie | Tribute Montage |
| America at the Movies | 1976 | Documentary | Rusty Pannello (as The Marx Bros) |
| That's Entertainment, Part II | 1976 | Documentary | Clip from 'A Night at the Opera' (uncredited) |
| Hooray for Hollywood | 1975 | Documentary | Himself |
| Brother Can You Spare a Dime | 1975 | Documentary | |
| The Dick Cavett Show | 1971-1974 | TV Series | Himself / Tomasso from film A NIGHT AT THE OPERA |
| Milton Berle's Mad Mad Mad World of Comedy | 1974 | TV Movie | Himself |
| Hollywood: The Dream Factory | 1972 | TV Movie documentary | |
| Wayne and Shuster Take an Affectionate Look At... | 1965 | TV Series documentary | |
| The Big Parade of Comedy | 1964 | Documentary | One of The Marx Brothers (uncredited) |
| Hollywood and the Stars | 1964 | TV Series | Himself |
| Hollywood Without Make-Up | 1963 | Documentary | Himself |
| The DuPont Show of the Week | 1961 | TV Series | Himself |
| Screen Snapshots: Memories of Famous Hollywood Comedians | 1952 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Screen Snapshots: Hollywood's Famous Feet | 1950 | Documentary short | Himself (uncredited) |
| The Miracle of Sound | 1940 | Documentary short | Himself (uncredited) |
| Hollywood: Style Center of the World | 1940 | Documentary short | Himself |
| From the Ends of the Earth | 1939 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 1 | 1937 | Documentary short | Himself |
| Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 11 | 1937 | Documentary short | Himself |
Known for movies
Duck Soup (1933)
as Pinky
A Night at the Opera (1935)
as Tomasso
A Day at the Races (1937)
as Stuffy
Animal Crackers (1930)
as The Professor