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
Arthur Marx Arthur Marx Arthur Julius Marx (July 21, 1921April 14, 2011) was an American author, a nationally ranked amateur tennis player, and son of entertainer Groucho Marx, and his first wife, Ruth Johnson. He was named after Groucho's brother Arthur "Harpo" Marx. Marx spent his early years accompanying his father around vaudeville circuits in the United States and abroad. When he was 10, the family moved to Southern California, where the Marx Brothers continued their film careers. Marx was a nationally ranked tennis player before he was 18. While he was attending the University of Southern California, he won the National