- #MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY HOW TO#
- #MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY PROFESSIONAL#
- #MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY SERIES#
- #MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY WINDOWS#
In the case of the Marx Brothers, some “got” them, some didn’t. All of the great comedians worked with other writers, often many writers to sustain their act. But the demand for novelty in show business is relentless. And of course they were famous for their ability to improvise funny business right on the spot. They created their own act, and in their early vaudeville days, their own material. In essence, their primary writers were the Marxes themselves. The frequency has picked up again recently because of the recent revival of I’ll Say She Is.) Having recently written about the directors and producers of the team’s Hollywood films, today we discuss some of the people who wrote for their act, for both stage and screen. (We observe this morning with satisfaction but not surprise that, after Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers are the vaudeville act about whom we have blogged the most.
#MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY SERIES#
In 1961, Harpo published an autobiography titled Harpo Speaks!.In which we continue our ongoing series of Marx Brothers posts. So when I leave for work, I want a kid in every window, waving goodbye."
#MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY WINDOWS#
When he was asked by George Burns in 1948 how many children he planned to adopt, he answered, "I’d like to adopt as many children as I have windows in my house. (Groucho was divorced three times, Zeppo twice, Chico once.) The couple adopted four children: Bill, Alex, Jimmy, and Minnie. Harpo's marriage, like Gummo's, was lifelong. Roosevelt sent the couple a telegram of congratulations the following month. The wedding became public knowledge after President Franklin D. Harpo married actress Susan Fleming on September 28, 1936.
#MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY PROFESSIONAL#
The major exception was Mildred Dilling, a professional harpist who did teach Harpo the proper techniques of the instrument and collaborated with him regularly when he had difficulty with various compositions. They spent their time listening to him, fascinated by the way he played.
#MARX BROTHERS LOVE HAPPY HOW TO#
Although he played this way for the rest of his life, he did try to learn how to play correctly, and he spent considerable money hiring the best teachers. Harpo's method placed much less tension on the strings. Three years later, he found out he had tuned it incorrectly, but he could not have tuned it properly if he had, the strings would have broken each night. No one in town knew how to play the harp, so Harpo tuned it as best he could, starting with one basic note and tuning it from there. He learned how to hold it properly from a picture of an angel playing a harp that he saw in a five-and-dime. The dealer (Art Fisher) called him "Harpo" because he played the harp. Harpo gained his stage name in 1915 during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois. Urban legends stating that the name change came about during World War I due to anti-German sentiment in the US, or during World War II because of the stigma that Adolf Hitler imposed on the name, are groundless. The name change may have also happened because of the similarity between Harpo's name and Adolph Marks, a prominent show business attorney in Chicago. This was due primarily to his dislike for the name Adolph (as a child, he was routinely called "Ahdie" instead). Harpo had changed his name from Adolph to Arthur by 1911. He frequently used props such as a horn cane, made up of a pipe, tape, and a bulbhorn, and he played the harp in most of his films. He wore a curly reddish blond wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho Marx and Chico Marx, Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of both clown and pantomime traditions. The Incredible Jewel Robbery Arthur "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and musician, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers.