Name	Harpo Marx
Caption	Harpo inA Night at the Opera (1935)
Birth name	Adolph Marx
Birth date	November 23, 1888
Birth place	New York City, New York,United States
Death date
Death place	Los Angeles, California,United States
Occupation	Actor, comedian, mime
Years active	1910–1962
Spouse	Susan Fleming (1936-1964) (his death)

Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx (November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). Marx frequently used props such as a walking stick with a built-in bulb horn, and he played the harp in most of his films.

Early life and career

"Harpo" was born Adolph Marx in New York City. He grew up in a neighborhood now known as Carnegie Hill on the Upper East Side (E 93rd Street off Lexington Avenue) of Manhattan. The turn-of-the-century building that Harpo called "the first real home they ever knew" (in his memoir Harpo Speaks), was populated with European immigrants, mostly artisans - which even included a glass blower. Just across the street were the oldest brownstones in the area, owned by people like the well-connected Loew Brothers and William Orth.

Harpo's parents were Sam Marx (called "Frenchie" throughout his life) and his wife Minnie Schoenberg Marx. Minnie's brother was Al Schoenberg, who changed his name to Al Shean when he went into show business. He was half of Gallagher and Shean, a noted vaudeville act of the early 20th century.

Harpo had little formal education, quitting during his second attempt to pass the second grade. According to Harpo's autobiography, he was thrown out of the window of his classroom (from the first floor) by two big Irish kids, as he was the only Jew in the class and was very small for his age. Upon returning to the classroom, Harpo would lie to his teacher, saying he had gone to the restroom to avoid worse bullying. This happened about three or four times a day until Harpo finally left New York Public School 86 for good. He started working odd jobs alongside his brother Chico to contribute to the family income. In his movie performances he played the harp with his own tuning.

In his autobiography Harpo Speaks (1961), Harpo recounts how Chico got him jobs playing piano to accompany silent movies. Unlike Chico, Harpo could only play two songs on the piano, "Waltz Me Around Again, Willie" and "Love Me and the World Is Mine", but he adapted this small repertoire in different tempos to suit the action on the screen. He was also seen playing a portion of Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C# minor" in Animal Crackers and chords on the piano in A Night at the Opera, in such a way that the piano sounded much like a harp, as a prelude to actually playing the harp in that scene.

Harpo had changed his name from Adolph to Arthur by 1911. This was due primarily to his dislike for the name Adolph (as a child, he was routinely called "Ahdie" instead). Urban legends stating that the name change came about during World War I—owing to anti-German sentiment in the US and during World War II—owing to the stigma that Adolf Hitler imposed on the name—are groundless. His tour was a huge success. He served as a secret courier during this time, delivering communiques to and from the US embassy in Moscow at the request of Ambassador William Christian Bullitt, Jr., smuggling the messages in and out of Russia by taping a sealed envelope to his leg beneath his trousers, an event described in David Fromkin's 1995 book In the Time of the Americans.

Film portrayal

Marx was portrayed by the actor J.M. Henry in the 1994 film Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle.

The character of Banjo in The Man Who Came To Dinner is based on Harpo Marx. He actually played Banjo in some stage performances.

Notes

References

Marx, Harpo (1961). Harpo Speaks. New York: B. Geis Associates; New York: Limelight Editions, 1985. ISBN 0-87910-036-2

Mitchell, Glenn (1996). The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-7838-1

External links

Harpo Marx family website, run by his son Bill

Clips of Harpo speaking

Category:1888 births Category:1964 deaths Category:American comedians Category:American comedy musicians Category:American film actors Category:American harpists Category:American Jews Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Mimes Category:People from New York City Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Whistlers Category:Zionists Category:Marx Brothers (film series)

Name	Milton Berle
Caption	Berle at the 41st Primetime Emmy Awards in 1989
Birth name	Milton Berlinger
Birth date	July 12, 1908
Birth place	Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Death date	March 27, 2002
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Mr. Television, Uncle Miltie
Occupation	Actor/Comedian
Years active	1914–2000
Spouse	Joyce Mathews (1941–1947) Joyce Mathews (1949–1950) Ruth Cosgrove (1953–1989) Lorna Adams (1991–2002)
Influences	Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx
Influenced	Don Rickles, Johnny Carson, Larry the Cable Guy

Milton Berle (July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater (1948–55), in 1948 he was the first major star of US television He appeared as a child actor in silent films, beginning with The Perils of Pauline, filmed in Fort Lee, New Jersey. was only experimental, but by the early 1930s he had become a successful stand-up comedian. In 1933, he was hired by producer Jack White to star in the theatrical featurette Poppin' the Cork, a topical musical comedy concerning the repealing of Prohibition. Berle also co-wrote the score for this film, which was released by Educational Pictures.

Berle continued to dabble in songwriting. With Ben Oakland and Milton Drake, Berle wrote the title song for the RKO Radio Pictures release Li'l Abner (1940), an adaptation of Al Capp's comic strip, featuring Buster Keaton as Lonesome Polecat. Berle's autobiography notes that in Detroit, "an investigation took place when the water levels took a drastic drop in the reservoirs on Tuesday nights between 9 and 9:05. It turned out that everyone waited until the end of the Texaco Star Theater before going to the bathroom".

Berle is credited for the huge spike in the sale of TV sets. (Other comedians turned this into a punchline: "I sold mine, my uncle sold his...") After Berle's show began, set sales more than doubled, reaching two million in 1949. His stature as the medium's first superstar earned Berle the sobriquet "Mr. Television". He also earned a slightly more familiar nickname after ending a 1949 broadcast with a brief ad-libbed remark to children watching the show: "Listen to your Uncle Miltie and go to bed."

Berle asked NBC to switch from live broadcasts to filmed shows, to make possible future reruns and residuals, and he was not happy when NBC showed little interest. NBC did consent to make a kinescope of each show — a reference copy filmed directly off a TV screen.

He also risked his newfound TV stardom at its zenith to challenge Texaco when the sponsor tried to prevent black performers from appearing. In his autobiography, Berle recalled the incident:

Berle's mother Sadie was often in the audience for his broadcasts; she had long served as a "plant" to encourage audiences for his stage shows to laugh. Her unique, "piercing, roof-shaking laugh" would stand out, especially when he would walk onstage in an outrageous costume. He would feign being startled by her laugh, and would pretend she was a stranger or a heckler, then come up with a response. Example: "Lady, you've got all night to make a fool of yourself. I've only got an hour!"

Berle's TV decline

NBC signed him to an exclusive, unprecedented 30-year television contract in 1951. The problem with Berle's 30-year deal was that NBC could not have realized the relatively short lifespan of a comedian on television, compared to radio, where some careers had thrived for two decades. In part, this was due to the more ephemeral nature of visual comedy (those who do not adapt quickly do not survive), and a single television appearance could equal years of exposure on the nightclub circuit. It has also been said that Berle had less appeal with audiences outside the Borscht Belt as television expanded from big East Coast markets to smaller cities. It is also possible that the positioning of the television set itself was a factor. When Berle's program first hit the airwaves, so few people owned the apparatus that many audiences watched it in public places such as bars, clubs and even in appliance store windows; these were perfect venues for Berle's out-sized personality. However, as more and more people acquired their own televisions, they may have adjusted their tastes to suit the privacy of home.

Texaco pulled out of sponsorship of the show in 1953. Buick picked it up, prompting a renaming to The Buick-Berle Show, and the program's format was changed to show the backstage preparations to put on a variety show. Critics generally approved of the changes, but Berle's ratings continued to fall and Buick pulled out after two seasons. By the time the again-renamed Milton Berle Show finished its only full season, Berle was already becoming history — though his final season was host to two of Elvis Presley's earliest television appearances, April 3 and June 5, 1956.

In later life, Berle found solace in Christian Science and called himself a Jew and a Christian Scientist. Oscar Levant, commenting to Jack Paar about Berle's conversion, quipped, "Our loss is their loss."

Texaco Star Theater in the news

In 1988, a series of syndicated TV specials with the umbrella title "Milton Berle: The Second Time Around," recycled footage from representative Texaco Star Theater kinescopes. These shows, unseen for decades, helped to introduce Berle's brand of comedy to a new audience.

In 2000, Berle made national headlines when he sued NBC for $30,000,000. Berle had retained co-ownership of his NBC programs and specials, but when he approached NBC about making the episodes available on home video, he was told that NBC no longer had the programs on file. Berle sued, claiming the network's negligence in deliberately or accidentally losing or destroying the shows. Berle itemized the loss of 84 Texaco hours, 32 Buick shows, and 12 prime-time specials. NBC scoured the shelves for the missing films, which turned up two months later in the network's Burbank, California facility. All but four of the films were recovered.

Death

In April 2001, Berle announced that he was suffering from a cancerous tumor in his colon, but would not undergo surgery. At the time of the announcement, Berle's wife said the tumor was growing so slowly that it would take ten to twelve years to affect him in any significant or life-threatening way. Less than one year after the announcement, Berle died on March 27, 2002 in Los Angeles, California.

Berle left detailed arrangements to be buried with his ex-wife, Ruth at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Burbank. However, his last wife, Lorna Adams, altered the plan so that he was cremated and interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. In addition to his wife, Berle was survived by a daughter, Victoria, born in 1945; son, William, born in 1961; and Bob Williams, a son, born in 1951.

Popular culture

In the episode titled "The One with the 'Cuffs" of the sitcom Friends, Rachel promises Chandler that she will make him "This generation's Milton Berle", hinting that he had a large penis but "not compared to (Chandler)".

In the Family Guy episode "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", Lois describes her perfect man as having (among other male celebrities' features) "Milton Berle's legendary genitals".

In the episode "Nanny From Hell" of the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry refers to an acquaintance's child, whom he knows to have a very large penis, as "Uncle Miltie".

In an episode of Animaniacs, Milton Berle is mentioned not to like the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot, but namely Yakko.

In the episode "Training Day" of the sitcom Archer, Archer says "Oh, He just gets a pass like Milton Berle?!?!"

For the initial production of Robert Sherwood's Idiot's Delight starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1936, Lunt went to see Berle perform many times and took lessons from him in joke delivery and soft shoe for his characterization of tenth rate vaudeville performer Harry Van. After Lunt had seen Berle perform numerous times and went backstage to meet him, before any introductions could be made, Berle snapped, "Now look here, nobody steals from me. That's my line of work!" After finding out that his fan was none other than the American stage's most gifted and prestigious actor, Berle was flattered and showed Lunt everything he knew. - From Design for Living, Margot Peters' biography of the Lunts.

Other awards

On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Berle into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

Broadway

Earl Carroll's Vanities of 1932 (1932) - revue — in the roles of "Mortimer" in the sketch "Mourning Becomes Impossible", "Joe Miller, Jr." in "What Price Jokes", "Frank" in "Two Sailors", "Paul" in "The Cabinet of Doctor X", the "Announcer" in "Studio W.M.C.A." the "Defendant" in "Trial by Jury" and "Milton" in "The Bar Relief"

Saluta (1934) — musical, co-lyricist and performer cast in the role of "'Windy' Walker"

See My Lawyer (1939) — play — performer cast in the role of "Arthur Lee"

Ziegfeld Follies of 1943 (1943) — revue — performer in the role of "Cecil" in Counter Attack, "J. Pierswift Armour" in The Merchant of Venison, "Perry Johnson" in Loves-A-Poppin, "Escamillio" in Carmen in Zoot, "Charlie Grant" Mr Grant Goes To Washington, "'The Micromaniac' Singer" and "'Hold That Smile' Dancer"

I'll Take the High Road (1943) — play — co-producer

Seventeen (1951) — musical — co-producer

The Goodbye People (1968) — performer cast in the role of "Max Silverman"

Filmography

1914: The Perils of Pauline

1917: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

1920: The Mark of Zorro (uncredited), Birthright

1921: Little Lord Fauntleroy (uncredited)

1922: Tess of the Storm Country (uncredited)

1923: Ruth of the Range (uncredited)

1933: Poppin' the Cork

1937: New Faces of 1937

1938: Radio City Revels

1940: Li'l Abner (title song with Ben Oakland and Milton Drake)

1941: Tall, Dark and Handsome, The Great American Broadcast, Sun Valley Serenade, Rise and Shine

1942: A Gentleman at Heart, Whispering Ghosts, Over My Dead Body

1943: Margin for Error

1949: Always Leave Them Laughing

1960: The Bellboy

1960: Let's Make Love

1963: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

1965: The Loved One

1966: The Oscar, Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title

1967: The Happening, Who's Minding the Mint?

1968: Silent Treatment, Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows, For Singles Only

1969: Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?, Seven in Darkness

1972: Evil Roy Slade

1974: Journey Back to Oz (voice)

1975: Lepke

1976: Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood

1976: Let's Make a Deal (playing for a home viewer)

1979: The Muppet Movie

1985: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

1983: Cracking Up

1984: Broadway Danny Rose

1988: Side by Side

1989: Going Overboard

1991: Driving Me Crazy (1991 film)

1992: Fresh Prince of Bel Air

1995: Sister, Sister

1995: "The Nanny"

1995: Storybook

2000: Two Heads Are Better Than None

References

Further reading

Berle, Milton with Haskel Frankel. Milton Berle, an Autobiography. New York: Dell, 1975. ISBN 0-440-15626-2

Dunning, John. On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-507678-8

McNeil, Alex. Total Television. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. ISBN 0-14-004911-8

Shales, Tom and James Andrew Miller. Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live. New York: Little, Brown, 2002. ISBN 0-316-78146-0

Berle, William and Lewis, Brad. "My Father, Uncle Miltie". New York: Barricade Books, 1999. ISBN 1-56980-149-5

External links

Milton Berle Internet archive Several entries for free stream or download including Texaco Star Theater and Buick Berle Show.

Museum of Broadcast Communications: Milton Berle

Museum of Broadcast Communications: The Milton Berle Show

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Milton 'Berlinger' Berle's birth certificate

Lum's TV Commercial with Milton Berle

Listen to

Free OTR: Milton Berle Show (two episodes)

Category:Actors from New York City Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American television actors Category:American stand-up comedians Category:Bowling broadcasters Category:Burlesque performers Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Texaco Category:Vaudeville performers Category:American Christian Scientists Category:1908 births Category:2002 deaths