Harpo Marx, Comedian, Musician, and Fighter for Jewish Rights

Although Harpo Marx was not a movie star, generations of Americans chuckled at, wept with, and eagerly praised him for his funny genius and artistic genius. The Jewish Marx had to contend with the perilous threat of anti-Semitism even in the glories and fame of his distinguished career on display and step, which led him to struggle for equal rights for all those who had been imprisoned and for the reincarnation of the state of Israel.

The” Marx Brothers” are renowned in National entertainment history, comprising entirely in their theater and movie jobs five boys, nicknamed Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo, though the first three were the most successful over years of movies and TV and radio images. They are most remembered for their wild comedy, though they were all musically gifted, Harpo was a prolific painter, and Zeppo was an engineering pioneer and inventor. Adolph Marx, who gave his first name to Arthur before Adolf Hitler’s stigma, earned the moniker” Harpo” from his masterful harp performances, both self-taught and unofficial. Today, Nov. 23, is the anniversary of Harpo’s 1888 birth.

Ironically, while one Adolf is infamous for massacring millions of Jews in the Holocaust, the other Adolph — Harpo — would spend his whole life battling anti-Semitism. Harpo, who was born to German Jews immigrant parents in New York, allegedly left school in the second grade and never came back because of her anti-Semitism and physical abuse. Harpo was a bit of a juvenile delinquent before he became the philanthropist, devoted husband, and loving father that friends and family admired for being unfailingly soft-spoken and loving toward everyone. Harpo and his brothers frequently pursued singing and performing roles while they were still in school, and one occasion saw him get his musical performance in a brothel repeatedly interrupted due to a faint. When a doctor came in and diagnosed him with measles, the head of the brothel, who had no sexual inhibitions but apparently a few prejudices, said she did n’t want” sick Jews” on her premises.

You can hear Harpo himself tell the story below as part of the video/audio compilation. It is one of the only recordings of Harpo’s voice, his trademark was his purely physical/musical comedy, and he spoke only one confirmed line in a movie, in a 1925 comedy. Even on radio, he used only his ubiquitous honks, whistles, and music.

However, Harpo ultimately succeeded in dispelling the anti-Jewish prejudice that was still far too prevalent in America. Vaudeville, movies, radio, and TV all provided platforms for talented Jewish ( and black ) performers to win the hearts of Americans and slowly chip away their prejudice. Al Jolson, Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers, Burns and Allen, George Jessel, Eddie Cantor, and Fanny Brice were just a few of these Jewish megastars in the early 1900s. In fact, Harpo’s reliance on wordless humor and exceptional music fueled his appeal abroad despite world wars. The man who performed on at least six instruments like an angel and clowned around in a ridiculous wig and overcoat in Russia had the same ability to perform in America.

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His very contradictions were fascinating. He could start by eating a candle, grabbing a cup of hot coffee from his pocket, or engaging a co-star in a string trio or harp solo. Remarkably, Harpo could n’t read music, yet he was a phenomenal performer and talented improviser. Harpo’s harp was a prized possession, and that is why he

willed it to Israel, where it was subsequently featured in an Israeli orchestra. Which brings us to Harpo’s passionate advocacy for the British to move out of what they called “Palestine,” the ancient land of Israel, part of which was in the 1940s finally returned to the Jews for the modern rebirth of Israel. 

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According to Jewish United Fund ( JUF) member Susan Fleming Marx, Harpo’s beloved wife Susan Fleming Marx described the anti-Semitism Harpo saw in Russia and Europe in the 1930s as deeply troubling. She and their eldest son Bill Marx recall Harpo’s first trip to Israel in 1961.

]Bill’s ] parents and author James Michener traveled to Israel in 1961 on behalf of the State Department. It was Harpo’s first visit to the country. According to Bill,” He was walking down the street with Mom in Tel Aviv.” And he responds,” You know, this is the first time in my life that I have felt it’s acceptable to be a Jew.” I feel safe here. ‘” &nbsp,

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The Muslim Arabs were already invading and occupying a sizable portion of Israeli territory at the time, including Jerusalem, where the Jordanians had razed the city’s historic Jewish Quarter to the ground. Israel was the fulfillment of Harpo and the other Jews who had witnessed the horror of the Holocaust and who had witnessed anti-Jewish hatred. It was also God’s promised land. Jews were persecuted and even murdered by bigots in the East and the West, respectively, for a reason. We see that with the Oct. 7 atrocities, the daily missile attacks on Israeli civilians from Islamic terrorists, the Amsterdam “pogroms“, and the global wave of anti-Semitic hatred. As Harpo did in his day, we should make the determination to fight irrational and dangerous prejudice:

]JUF:] One of the most powerful passages in]Mrs. Harpo Marx’s ] book relates a trip to New York in the mid-1950s. Harpo was to appear on&nbsp, The Martha Raye Show. During the visit, Fleming Marx writes, Harpo overheard his wife’s own mother refer to him as a “kike”. Bill Marx vividly recalls the incident. At the time, he attended Julliard. ” He was crushed”, he recalls. ” He was visibly shaken. I saw it and inquired about it with my mother. Dad handled it internally. He never raised a grievance. He was very gracious to my grandmother. I never saw him angry. I saw him more disappointed in certain people and their behavior” .&nbsp,

Although his father never spoke with him directly about prejudice and bigotry, Harpo’s treatment of everyone as equals was remarkable, according to Bill Marx. After insisting that Black people should n’t be restricted to the upper balcony, the book claims that Harpo was unfairly penalized by southern theater owners. ” I learned by his example”, Bill Marx said. When we were traveling, I saw him surrounded by all kinds of people. Daw authorized non-Jews to join Hillcrest Country Club. My dad prompted Danny Thomas to join.

So today, take the time to watch and listen to Harpo Marx. Remember that he was the quintessential American success story: a poor and uneducated boy who overcame prejudice and persecution to entertain and inspire millions of people, aid his people’s reclaim their homeland, and make the world a freer and better place as you laugh at his wild antics and marvel at his musical versatility.

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