Here's something that's been floating around on the Internet for years. It's an excerpt from an old B.B.C. documentary…thirty seconds of Harpo Marx discussing a silly moment from his career. If you've heard it before, fine. If not…well, how often does one get to hear the voice of Harpo Marx? This is the man who, at his farewell live performance, walked up to the microphone and proclaimed to the audience, "Now, as I was about to say in 1918…" Actually, the usually-silent Mr. Marx spoke in a few documentary-type shorts and appeared in a number of stage performances of The Man Who Came to Dinner. (Co-authors George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart took turns playing Sheridan Whiteside, while Harpo played…well, the character based on Harpo.)
It has also been rumored that he spoke during a long-lost appearance on the daytime TV show, Art Linkletter's House Party. Linkletter has reportedly told inquiring Marx fans that he doesn't recall this but won't say for sure it did not happen. So maybe it did, maybe it didn't and maybe (my hunch:) it was some other, similar show.
Anyway, for now, the way to hear Harpo is to click below…
