Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Harpo Marx Papers

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1290
Creators:
Marx, Harpo, 1888-1964
Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943
Dates:
1896-2009, undated
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
7 Cubic feet
18 boxes, 1 map folder
Repository:
The personal and business papers of the comedian and Marx Brother, Harpo Marx, relating to his family and career. The papers include materials relating to his brothers Chico, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The personal and business papers of the comedian and Marx Brother, Harpo Marx. The papers also include materials relating to his brothers Chico, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx, his family, and career. The papers include theatrical scripts, photographs of productions and family, numerous news clippings, and extensive financial records for Harpo's investments. There is original correspondence from Harpo's friend, Alexander Woollcott. The papers include copies of Woollcott's correspondence and Harpo's replies. There is a series with material related to Harpo's son, William "Bill" W. Marx.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The Harpo Marx Papers are arranged in six series.
Series 1, Correspondence and Personal Papers, 1919-2008, undated
Series 2, Scripts, Music Manuscripts, and Ephemera, 1917-1965, undated
Series 3, Photographs, 1896-1964, undated
Series 4, Marx, William "Bill" Woollcott, 1976-2009
Series 5, Financial and Investment, 1934-1991, undated
Series 6, Sound Recordings, Original Audio Discs, 1945-1957, undated

Administration

Author
Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution by the Harpo Marx Estate, 2012.
Processing Information
Processed by Zoe Adams, intern, and Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist, supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, 2023. Sound Recordings: Original Audio Discs processed by Wendy A. Shay, archivist, 2012.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Harpo Marx Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Related Materials
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Groucho Marx Collection, AC0290 George Sidney Collection, AC0867 Richard Carver Wood Photographs, AC0964

More Information

Bibliography

Bibliography
Arthur (born Adolph) "Harpo" Marx (1888-1964) was born November 23, 1888 in New York, New York, the son of Samuel and Minnie Schoenberg Marx. He had six siblings: Manfred (1885-1886), Leonard Joseph (Chico) (1887-1961), Julius Henry (Groucho)(1890-1977), Milton (Gummo) (1893-1977), Herbert Manfred (Zeppo) (1901-1979) and Samuel (1902-?). His mother was the sister of noted Vaudeville comedian Al Shean. Unlike his on-screen and stage persona, Harpo was able to speak. He married actor Susan Alma Fleming in 1936. They adopted four children.
The Marx Brothers, at one time called The Six Mascots had vaudeville in their blood and their mother Minnie was a driving force in their careers. Minnie organized the Three Nightingales with Groucho, Gummo and a girl singer. The girl was eventually replaced by a boy tenor and Harpo joined the troupe. The name of the group was changed to The Four Nightingales. Minnie acted as the group's manager. The group became known as the Marx Brothers with everyone except Gummo taking part in the act. The family moved to Chicago circa 1904 where their grandfather lived.
The brothers toured the South and Midwest performing a vaudeville skit called "Fun in Hiskule". It is noted that the comedy act began in Nacogdoches, Texas. The Marx Brothers first big success came in 1919 with their vaudeville act entitled "Home Again". In 1920, they were booked into the Palace Theatre in New York City and played there for thirteen months. They tourned on the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit formed by Benjamin F. Keith, Edward F. Albee, and Martin Beck's Orpheum circuit. They were later banished from the circuit due to a contract violation - they had accepted employment without Edward F. Albee's permission.
In 1923 they toured with the show "I'll Say She Is", a collection of vaudeville routines that Groucho had written in collaboration with brothers Will B. and Tom Johnstone. The show ran on Broadway for thirty-eight weeks. On December 8, 1925, the brothers (using their nicknames professionally for the first time) opened on Broadway in "The Cocoanuts". The play was written expressly for them by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind with music by Irving Berlin. The brothers made a silent film circa 1924 called "Humor Risk" but it was never released. "Animal Crackers" opened on October 23, 1928.
On the strength of their success in "The Cocoanuts", the Marx Brothers were signed to a film contract. In 1929, they made the film version of "The Cocoanuts" while performing "Animal Crackers" on the stage. Their mother, Minnie Marx died the same year. The following year the Brothers starred in the film version of "Animal Crackers". Both films were made in New York City. In 1931, Groucho moved to Hollywood where The Marx Brothers made thirteen films. The brothers signed with Paramount Pictures and made "Monkey Business" (1931), "Horsefeathers" (1932) and "Duck Soup" (1933) while at the studio. In 1933, Zeppo left the troupe and their father, Samuel Marx, died.
In February 1934 Groucho and Chico teamed up in a radio program called "Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel", about characters who were comic lawyers. In March 1934 they replaced Ethel Waters on a weekly radio series sponsored by the American Oil Company. In 1935 the brothers starred in "A Night at the Opera" for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a film produced by Irving Thalberg and a sequel, "A Day at the Races" (1937). In addition to working for MGM, the brothers starred in "Room Service" (1938) for the RKO studio.
In addition to comedy, Harpo famously played the harp. He had a robust solo career in music, film, stage, and television, until his retirement in the early 1960s. He died on September 28, 1964 after a heart by-pass operation. He was cremated and his ashes were reportedly scattered into the sand trap at the seventh hole of the Rancho Mirage golf course.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Comedians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Entertainers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Financial records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Music -- Manuscripts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Radio scripts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
78 rpm records Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sheet music Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hollywood (Calif.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Motion picture studios -- California -- Hollywood Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Television scripts Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Paramount Studios Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
RKO motion picture studio Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
clippings (information artifacts) Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vaudeville -- 1880-1910 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vaudeville -- 1930-1940 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Theatrical productions Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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