Sept. 29, 1964 - Harpo Marx, the blond-wigged, nonspeaking member of the Marx Brothers team, died last night at 8:30 in Mount Sinai Hospital in Hollywood. He was 70 years old. A hospital official said Mr. Marx died after heart surgery.
Mr. Marx, whose given name was Arthur, had been in semiretirement for five years. In January 1963, he announced that he was retiring completely.
The harp-playing comedian was the second of the theatrical brothers to die. Chico, the piano player, died in 1961.
The surviving brothers are Gummo, Zeppo, and Groucho.
Mr. Marx also leaves his wife, the former actress Susan Fleming, to whom he was married for 28 years, and four adopted children.
A honking horn, facial expressions, and gestures were Mr. Marx’s only mode of communication as a performer on the stage and in films. He maintained professional silence until the end of his career.
A battered plug hat on his frizzled mop hair, a cretinous grimace on his innocent face, and his baggy pants and oversize raincoat filled with everything from ax handles to zebra skins, Harpo Marx kept audiences laughing for 50 years.
His trademark was his harp, which he played well, and his silence, which was funnier, sweeter, and more eloquent than most comedians’ noisiest chatter.
The cigar-chewing Groucho was the star of the team, but it was Harpo, tooting his horn while in pursuit of an attractive girl, who always seemed to draw the most laughs.
Harpo was born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan in a tenement on East 93rd Street on Nov. 23, 1893. He attended Public School 86 but never got beyond the second grade.
In 1924, after years on the vaudeville circuit, the Marx Brothers made their Broadway debut with “I’ll Say She Is,” a revue that brought them praise from Alexander Woolcott, who wrote:
“This man is a great clown. Harpo is the funniest man I have ever seen on the stage.”
The critic took a liking to Harpo and introduced him to the crowd of writers, actors, and wits that frequented the Algonquin Hotel. An ideal listener, Harpo became a favorite.
Besides performing on stage and in films, Harpo made frequent concert tours. His act consisted of clowning combined with some excellent solos on the harp.
The Marx Brothers made their last movie, “Love Happy,” in 1949. Groucho turned to radio as a quizmaster, while Chico and Harp took to the nightclub route.
Most of Harpo’s time, however, was spent on his spacious ranch in California with his four children and assorted pets. He had been financially secure since the early 1940s.
Occasionally, Harpo appeared as a guest on a television show or with a symphony orchestra playing his harp.
In 1961, his autobiography, “Harpo Speaks,” was published by Bernard Geis Associates.
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