He became a dedicated harpist, which gave him his nickname. Harpo was amazingly talented, learning to play an estimated six different instruments throughout his career. The brothers were from a family of artists, and their musical talent was encouraged from an early age. Stage beginningsġ911 newspaper advertisement for a Marx Brothers appearance. Sadye Marks 1905-1983), who married comedian Jack Benny. He is buried at New York's Washington Cemetery, beside his grandmother, Fanny Sophie Schönberg (née Salomons), who died on 10 April 1901." A cousin of the Marx brothers was Mary Livingstone (b. A death certificate of the Borough of Manhattan reveals that he died, aged seven months, on 17 July 1886, of 'entero-colitis,' with 'asthenia' contributing, i.e. Even some members of the Marx family wondered if he was pure myth. BrothersĪ sixth brother, Manfred ("Mannie"), was actually the first child of Samuel and Minnie, born in 1886, though an online family tree states that he was born in 1885: "Family lore told privately of the firstborn son, Manny, born in 1886 but surviving for only three months, and carried off by tuberculosis. The family lived in the then-poor Yorkville section of New York City's Upper East Side, between the Irish, German and Italian quarters. Their mother, Minnie Schönberg, was from Dornum in East Frisia and their father, Simon Marx (whose name was changed to Samuel Marx, and who was nicknamed "Frenchy") was a native of Alsace and worked as a tailor. Born in New York City, the Marx Brothers were the sons of Jewish immigrants from Germany and France.