Harpo Marx
On November 23, 1888, in New York City, a performer was born who would go on to work across stage, film, and television as a comedian, mime artist, and harpist. That performer was Harpo Marx, a United States citizen who built a career that spanned multiple decades and several distinct entertainment forms before his death in Los Angeles on September 28, 1964.
Born in New York City, Harpo Marx came of age in an era when live stage performance was the primary venue for comic talent. He worked as a stage actor, developing the physical, wordless style that would become his signature mode of performance. As a mime artist, he communicated entirely through gesture and expression rather than spoken language, a choice that set him apart from many of his contemporaries in comedy. His work on stage laid the foundation for the broader career that would follow.
Marx subsequently extended his presence to film, working as a film actor and contributing to screenwriting as well. His identity as a mime carried over into his film work, where the absence of spoken dialogue remained a defining characteristic of his performances. He also worked in television, demonstrating an ability to adapt his established stage and film persona to a newer medium. Alongside his acting and comedic work, he was a practicing harpist, and the instrument became closely associated with his public image throughout his career.
As a writer, Marx contributed to the broader record of his professional life in addition to his screenwriting credits. He worked in English across all of his written output. His career touched on comedy, physical performance, music, writing, and acting for stage, screen, and television — a range that is documented across the body of work he produced during his lifetime. Harpo Marx died in Los Angeles on September 28, 1964, leaving behind a documented record of work as a comedian, mime artist, harpist, film and stage and television actor, screenwriter, and writer that stretched from his New York City origins to his final years on the West Coast.
Quotes by Harpo Marx
Harpo, she's a lovely person. She deserves a good husband. Marry her before she finds one.
Many years ago a very wise man named Bernard Baruch took me aside and put his arm around my shoulder. “Harpo my boy,” he said, “I’m going to give you three pieces of advice, three things you should always remember.” My heart jumped and I glowed with expectation. I was going to hear the magic password to a rich, full life from the master himself. “Yes sir?” I said. And he told me the three things. I regret that I’ve forgotten what they were.
In the house in Beverly Hills where our four children grew up, living conditions were a few thousand times improved over the old tenement on New York’s East 93rd Street we Marx Brothers called home.
I don’t know whether my life has been a success or a failure. But not having any anxiety about becoming one instead of the other, and just taking things as they come along, I’ve had a lot of extra time to enjoy life.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I don't know whether my life has been a success or a failure. But not having any anxiety about becoming one instead of the other, and just taking things as they come along, I've had a lot of extra time to enjoy life.