27 Facts About Marcel Marceau

Marcel Marceau was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown".

Marcel Marceau referred to mime as the "art of silence", performing professionally worldwide for more than 60 years.

Marcel Marceau was born in Strasbourg, France, to a Jewish family.

Marcel Marceau's father, Charles Mangel, was a kosher butcher originally from Bedzin, Poland.

When Marcel was four years old, the family moved to Lille, but they later returned to Strasbourg.

Marcel Marceau was schooled in the Paris suburbs at the home of Yvonne Hagnauer, while pretending to be a worker at the school she directed; Hagnauer would later receive the honor of Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem.

In 1944 Marcel Marceau's father was captured by the Gestapo and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was killed.

Marcel Marceau joined Jean-Louis Barrault's company and was cast in the role of Arlequin in a pantomime, Baptiste.

Marcel Marceau's performance won him such acclaim that he was encouraged to present his first "mimodrama", Praxitele and the Golden Fish, at the Bernhardt Theatre that same year.

In 1947 Marcel Marceau created Bip the Clown, whom he first played at the Theatre de Poche in Paris.

Marcel Marceau's silent mimed exercises, which included The Cage, Walking Against the Wind, The Mask Maker, and In The Park, all became classic displays.

Marcel Marceau performed all over the world to spread the "art of silence".

Marcel Marceau was one of the world's most renowned mime artists.

Marcel Marceau's art became familiar to millions through his many television appearances.

Marcel Marceau teamed with Red Skelton in three concerts of pantomimes.

Marcel Marceau had a role in a low-budget film roughly based on his life story called Paint It White.

In 1969, Marcel Marceau opened his first school, Ecole Internationale de Mime, in the Theatre de la Musique in Paris.

In 2000, Marcel Marceau brought his full mime company to New York City to present his new melodrama, The Bowler Hat, previously seen in Paris, London, Tokyo, Taipei, Caracas, Santo Domingo, Valencia, and Munich.

From 1999, when Marcel Marceau returned with his classic solo show to New York and San Francisco after 15-year absences for critically acclaimed sold-out runs, his career in America enjoyed a remarkable renaissance with strong appeal to a third generation.

Marcel Marceau later appeared to overwhelming acclaim for extended engagements at such legendary American theaters as The Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles demonstrating the timeless appeal of the work and the mastery of this unique artist.

Marcel Marceau was married three times: first to Huguette Mallet, with whom he had two sons, Michel and Baptiste; then, to Ella Jaroszewicz, with whom he had no children.

Marcel Marceau died in a retirement home in Cahors, France, on 22 September 2007 at the age of 84.

Marcel Marceau was interred at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Marcel Marceau was made a commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an Officer of the Legion d'honneur, and in 1978 he received the Medaille Vermeil de la Ville de Paris.

Marcel Marceau was an elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts Berlin, the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, the Academie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France.

Marcel Marceau held honorary doctorates from Ohio State University, Linfield College, Princeton University and the University of Michigan.

Marcel Marceau accepted the honor and responsibilities of serving as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Second World Assembly on Aging, which took place in Madrid, Spain, in April 2002.