Marcel Marceau (22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime most famous for his stage persona as "Bip the Clown." He referred to mime as the "art of silence," and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. As a youth, he lived in hiding and worked with the French Resistance during most of World War II, giving his first major performance to 3000 troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Following the war, he studied dramatic art and mime in Paris.In 1959 he established his own pantomime school in Paris, and subsequently set up the Marceau Foundation to promote the art in the U.S. Among his various awards and honours, he was made "Grand Officier de la Légion d'Honneur" (1998) and was awarded the National Order of Merit (1998) in France. He won the Emmy Award for his work on television, was elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, and was declared a "National treasure" in Japan. He was friends with Michael Jackson for nearly 20 years, and Jackson said he would use some of Marceau's techniques in his own dance steps.
Michel Marceau, Camille Marceau, Baptiste Marceau, Aurélia Marceau
Parents
Anne Werzberg, Charles Mangel
Siblings
Alain Marceau
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Best Specialty Act - Single Or Group
Movies
Barbarella, Die schöne Lügnerin, Joseph's Gift, Shanks, Kinski Paganini, A Slice of Life, La bague, In the Park, The Islands, Journal masculin, Red Skelton's More Funny Faces, Pantomimes, Elogio della pazzia, We Called Him Robert, It
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Trademark
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Performs mime in whiteface as his character "Bip"
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Quote
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The people who came back from the [concentration] camps were never able to talk about it. My name is Mangel. I am Jewish. Perhaps that, unconsciously, contributed towards my choice of silence. - on a reason for his interest in the wordless art.
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Yes, I cried for him. - on his father's death in Auschwitz
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I have a feeling that I did for mime what (Andres) Segovia did for the guitar, what (Pablo) Casals did for the cello. - Associated Press interview.
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If you stop at all when you are 70 or 80, you cannot go on. You have to keep working. - 2003 Associated Press interview.
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Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug. That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another. - on the children killed in Auschwitz.
Marcel Marceau's costumes and belongings have sold for a staggering $700,000 at an auction in Paris, France, almost double the amount anticipated. The auction sale included Marceau's famous top hat, sailor suit, paintings and art objects. Part of the money raised will pay off Marcel's debts left after his death. Many of the objects were acquired by the National Library and the ministry's own heritage fund, where they will be put on display in the National Library.
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Born to Charles Mangel, a kosher butcher, and his wife Anne Werzberg, he grew up in Strasbourg until World War II.
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Held honorary doctorates from Ohio State University, Linfield College, Princenton University and Michigian University.
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New York City declared 18 March the Marcel Marceau Day (1999).
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His "Walking Against the Wind" routine inspired Michael Jackson's moonwalk.
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Interred in Père Lachaisse Cemetery in Paris (2007).
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In the early 1950s, he was virtually unknown in his native France (which has a strong mime tradition). Laurel & Hardy were doing a world tour and, while they were playing Paris, someone tipped them off that Marceau was doing incredible mime in an insignificant suburban theatre. They went to see him and, a few days later, instead of doing the second half of their regular show after the interval, Stan introduced Marceau and, more or less, scolded the audience for ignoring such a talent... and then Laurel & Hardy walked offstage and gave the second half of their show to Marceau.
$1.4 Million
