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Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; [1] November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. [1] In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Groucho and Chico , Harpo's comic style was visual, being an example of vaudeville , clown and pantomime traditions.
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures from 1905 to 1949.Five of the Marx Brothers' fourteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen.
Another notable example was Harpo Marx, who always portrayed a mute in the Marx Brothers' films. An early television series that featured exaggerated visual humor was The Ernie Kovacs Show. An important legacy of silent film comedy can be seen in the humor of animated cartoons.
He is a mute clown, in the tradition of Harpo Marx, and communicates with a cow bell. Much later, after the show ended in 1981, Rody, the youngest son of Fofó, joined the group in the persona of a black Cuban.
In the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio, the Fox and the Cat are given the names J. Worthington Foulfellow (or "Honest John"; voiced by Walter Catlett) and Gideon (whose hiccups were provided by Mel Blanc and whose mute comic hijinks were modeled on Harpo Marx, the silent member of The Marx Brothers).
In October 1961, Don Sandburg joined the show as producer and principal sketch writer, and also appeared as the mute clown "Sandy the Tramp," a character partly inspired by Harpo Marx. By November 1961, another eventual Chicago television legend joined the show's cast, actor Ray Rayner , as "Oliver O. Oliver," a country bumpkin from Puff Bluff ...
Sandy was a mute clown reminiscent of silent film comedians, although Sandburg said he primarily based the character on Harpo Marx. Eventually, Sandburg would be named the show's producer as well. Eventually, Sandburg would be named the show's producer as well.
Caricature by John Decker of the Marx Brothers in the show. Original caption: “THOSE FOUR FUNNY FELLOWS IN ‘I’LL SAY SHE IS!’ The four Marx Brothers who have conquered New York without a single casualty. Left to right they are Chico, Groucho, Beppo [sic], Harpo, Leonard, Julius, Herbert and Arthur respectively”