Harpo Marx

In one chapter, he tells one story of a man who did not believe that Harpo could actually talk. Because Harpo never spoke a word in all of his movies and TV appearances, many fans and other people believed he really was mute. In fact, radio and TV news recordings of his voice can be found on the Internet, documentaries, and on bonus materials of Marx Brothers DVDs. In relating one story to a reporter who privately interviewed him in the early 1930s, the reporter wrote that "Harpo had a deep and distinguished voice like a professional announcer" and, like his brothers, he spoke with a New York accent his entire life (for example: "girls" he would pronounce "goyles", turkey would be "toy-kee", New Jersey would be "new joy-see", etc.); hear, for instance, these audio recordings.) In private, Harpo actually had a much deeper and more resonant speaking voice than Groucho, which some suspect may be the real reason he was dissuaded from ever speaking in the act. For reference, his voice was fairly similar to Chico's, perhaps too similar, which would be another reason he developed his unique silent stage persona. It is also possible that his deep, rich voice was completely at odds with his puckish and zany characters. One of his sons later told reporters that if Harpo had a high-pitched or squeaky voice, it might have worked with his performances, but the fact that his voice was naturally deep ruined his zany acts while performing on stage during one performance in the mid-1920s. Read Less