William Woollcott Marx (born January 8, 1937) is an American pianist, arranger, and composer. He is the adopted son of actors

Harpo Marx Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Grou ...

and

Susan Fleming Susan Fleming (February 19, 1908 – December 22, 2002) was an American actress and the wife of comic actor Harpo Marx and sister in law to Groucho, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo. Fleming was known as the "Girl with the Million Dollar Legs" for a r ...

Early years

Marx was placed in the Children's Home Society in Los Angeles by his birth parents when he was eight months old, and four months later he was adopted by

and his wife,

. He attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, where he studied composition, and he studied with composer

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

. He began working in entertainment when he was 12 years old, when he was put in charge of his father's props for shows, including his harp. At 16 he became arranger and musical conductor for his father.

Composing and arranging

Marx's compositions include concertos for alto saxophone, flute, harp, piano, and violin. He also composed symphonies and scores for films, including the score for the film '' Weekend Pass'' (1984). Marx transcribed music that his father composed, because the elder Marx did not read music. The two worked together on two albums that Harpo recorded in the early 1960s. He also composed and arranged for recording artists in both jazz and popular music. In 1961, Marx signed with

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

. His projects there included arranging

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of music for four albums by the Castaway Strings. In 1967, he began writing music for commercials. In the 1970s, he composed for several

low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...

horror movies Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...

, including ''

Scream Blacula Scream ''Scream Blacula Scream'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation vampire horror film. It is a sequel to the 1972 film '' Blacula''. The film was produced by American International Pictures (AIP) and Power Productions. This was the acting debut of Ri ...

'', '' Terror at Red Wolf Inn'', and ''

Count Yorga, Vampire ''Count Yorga, Vampire'' (also known as ''The Loves Of Count Iorga, Vampire'') is a 1970 American vampire horror film written and directed by Bob Kelljan and starring Robert Quarry, Roger Perry and Michael Murphy. It was followed by a sequel, '' ...

.'' For these projects, he often collaborated with lyricist

Marilyn Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the f ...

. He continued his work on films outside the horror genre throughout the 1980s, such as arranging music for

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

' '' Big Trouble'' .

Performing and recording

As a performer, Marx has played in jazz clubs, lounges, and theaters. In the late 1980s, Marx and harpist Carrol McLaughlin toured the United States, giving performances and promoting ''Harpo Speaks'', his father's autobiography. Their concerts featured "exact renditions of songs that Harpo played" and included a segment in which they dressed as Harpo and Chico Marx. They also recorded an album, ''From Harpo With Love''. The duo's schedule for one spring included 42 venues in 21 states over a seven-week span.

Recognition

In the early 1990s, ''Los Angeles'' magazine named Marx the most popular lounge pianist in that city. In 2002, he received a star at 265 S. Palm Canyon Drive on the

Palm Springs Walk of Stars The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes po ...

. Marx still plays as a lounge pianist in and around Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Bill 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 21st-century American composers Living people 1937 births American male pianists American male composers Musicians from Los Angeles 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American adoptees