Harpo Marx office boy. In January 1910, Harpo joined two of his brothers, Julius (later "Groucho") and Milton (later "Gummo"), to form "The Three Nightingales", later changed to simply "The Marx Brothers". Multiple stories—most unsubstantiated—exist to explain Harpo's evolution as the "silent" character in the brothers' act. In his memoir, Groucho wrote that Harpo simply wasn't very good at memorizing dialogue, and thus was ideal for the role of the "dunce who couldn't speak", a common character in vaudeville acts of the time. Harpo gained his stage name during a card game at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg, Illinois. The dealer (Art
Eddie Jackson (vaudeville) Eddie Jackson (vaudeville) Edward Jackson (February 19, 1896 - July 16, 1980) was a leading vaudeville performer, actor and musician, and longtime colleague and partner of Jimmy Durante. He appeared in vaudeville with Durante and Lou Clayton as the team Clayton, Jackson & Durante, known as the Three Sawdust Bums. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jackson began his show business work as a singing waiter at New York City and Coney Island clubs. At the Alamo Club in Harlem, he met Durante. They played together in a number of clubs and opened Club Durant in 1923. In 1924, their act