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  • Farewell, Marcel...

    Marcel Marceau, Famed French Mime, Dies

    By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer

    32 minutes ago
    Pantomime Marcel Marceau is shown in Frankfurt, Germany, in ...

    PARIS - Marcel Marceau, whose lithe gestures and pliant facial expressions revived the art of mime and brought poetry to silence, died Saturday. He was 84.
    Wearing white face paint, soft shoes and a battered hat topped with a red flower, Marceau _ notably through his famed personnage Bip _ played the entire range of human emotions onstage for more than 50 years, never uttering a word. Offstage, however, he was famously chatty. "Never get a mime talking. He won't stop," he once said.
    A French Jew, Marceau escaped deportation during World War II _ unlike his father, who died as Auschwitz _ and worked with the French Resistance to protect Jewish children.
    His biggest inspiration was Charlie Chaplin. Marceau, in turn, inspired countless young performers _ Michael Jackson borrowed his famous "moonwalk" from a Marceau sketch, "Walking Against the Wind."
    Marceau performed tirelessly around the world until late in life, never losing his agility, never going out of style. In one of his most poignant and philosophical acts, "Youth, Maturity, Old Age, Death," he wordlessly showed the passing of an entire life in just minutes.
    "Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?" he once said.
    Prime Minister Francois Fillon praised Marceau as "the master," saying he had the rare gift of "being able to communicate with each and everyone beyond the barriers of language."
    In recent decades, Marceau took Bip from Mexico to China to Australia. He's also made film appearances. The most famous was Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie": He had the only speaking line, "Non!"
    "France loses one of its most eminent ambassadors," President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement.
    Marceau's former assistant, Emmanuel Vacca, announced the death on France-Info radio, but gave no details.
    Marceau was born Marcel Mangel on March 22, 1923, in Strasbourg, France. His father Charles, a butcher who sang baritone, introduced his son to the world of music and theater at an early age. The boy adored the silent film stars of the era: Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx brothers.
    When the Germans marched into eastern France, he and his family were given just hours to pack their bags. He fled to southwest France and changed his last name to Marceau to hide his Jewish origins.
    With his brother Alain, Marceau became active in the French Resistance. Marceau altered children's identity cards, changing their birth dates to trick the Germans into thinking they were too young to be deported. Because he spoke English, he was recruited to be a liaison officer with Gen. George S. Patton's army.
    In 1944, Marceau's father was sent to Auschwitz, where he died.
    Later, he reflected on his father's death: "Yes, I cried for him."
    But he also thought of all the others killed: "Among those kids was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who (would have) found a cancer drug," he told reporters in 2000. "That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another."
    When Paris was liberated, Marcel's life as a performer began. He enrolled in Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art, studying with the renowned mime Etienne Decroux.
    On a tiny stage at the Theatre de Poche, a smoke-filled Left Bank cabaret, he sought to perfect the style of mime that would become his trademark.
    Bip _ Marceau's on-stage persona _ was born.
    Marceau once said that Bip was his creator's alter ego, a sad-faced double whose eyes lit up with child-like wonder as he discovered the world. Bip was a direct descendant of the 19th century harlequin, but his clownish gestures, Marceau said, were inspired by Chaplin and Keaton.
    Marceau likened his character to a modern-day Don Quixote, "alone in a fragile world filled with injustice and beauty."
    Dressed in a white sailor suit, a top hat _ a red rose perched on top _ Bip chased butterflies and flirted at cocktail parties. He went to war and ran a matrimonial service.
    In one famous sketch, "Public Garden," Marceau played all the characters in a park, from little boys playing ball to old women with knitting needles.
    In 1949, Marceau's newly formed mime troupe was the only one of its kind in Europe. But it was only after a hugely successful tour across the United States in the mid-1950s that Marceau received the acclaim that would make him an international star.
    Single-handedly, Marceau revived the art of mime.
    "I have a feeling that I did for mime what (Andres) Segovia did for the guitar, what (Pablo) Casals did for the cello," he once told The Associated Press in an interview.
    As he aged, Marceau kept on performing at the same level, never losing the agility that made him famous.
    "If you stop at all when you are 70 or 80, you cannot go on," he told The AP in an interview in 2003. "You have to keep working."
    Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.


    This is so sad...DH and I were lucky enough to see him several years ago on stage. What an amazing performer! An icon! One of my alltime favorite performers!!!! We were so fortunate to see him! I saved the Program from that show, I always save stuff like that...What a great piece of remembrance for me now....
    susa

  • #2
    Re: Farewell, Marcel...

    Susabelle...thank you so much for posting this. While I never had the opportunity to see the Master perform live, I did get to study under his apprentice, Yanci Bukovec (SP) when I was much younger. (During my apprenticeship with the Californian Shakespearean Festival)

    I was offered the chance to go to France and also study under the both of them, but my ex-husband absolutely forbade it...so an opportunity lost...

    So, I read this with lots of tears for the loss of a great talent.

    I am so envious that you got to see him perform. What a treasured memory that must be!
    Originally posted by migo
    I poop with joy!
    Best Quote...EVER!!!


    Member of the Black Cat Owners Association #6

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    • #3
      Re: Farewell, Marcel...

      One of the most treasured memories of all. He was not only a wonderful performer, but a beautiful human being as well. What a heart of gold! I truly think he is one of the most talented artists this world has known. He was incredible live! I know I was VERY fortunate to have been able to go to that performance. I will never forget it. That man could make you feel things you did not know you could feel!
      susa

      there is a great memorial video of moments with the master over at youtube by user asnezhok that was just put up several hours ago. It is wonderful to see.
      Last edited by Susabelle; 09-23-2007, 10:15 AM.

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      • #4
        Re: Farewell, Marcel...

        I thought he died a long time ago.

        *runs*

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Farewell, Marcel...

          Mimes scare me. Nothing against Marceau personally, though.
          A signature should go here.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Farewell, Marcel...

            Yeah, I am not as afraid of mimes as I am of clowns, now clowns scare the bejeezuz out of me. Mimes don't bother me as much. They are not as harsh and colorful as clowns are and definitely not as loud! :lol:
            susa

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            • #7
              Re: Farewell, Marcel...

              I don't know, mimes are awfully sneaky!

              Clowns are just evil. Ick.
              A signature should go here.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Farewell, Marcel...

                Rest in Peace.

                It take a gifted actor to become know
                as a world reknown mime.

                Just saw a T-Shirt with a logo:

                "Being a Mime means Never having to say you're sorry"
                Critter Country's a mess ev'r since the Country Bears were kicked out. Ya can't cover pooh with honey and 'spect people ta like it.
                An Adventurers It's Time to Put the Spotlight Back on Bring Back the REAL Disney Gallery
                Life for Me! ~ ~ ~ Melvin, Buff, and Max!!! ~~~~ Dump the Dream Suite!
                Meese-ka Moose-ka Mice-Chatter!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Farewell, Marcel...

                  heres my tribute to marcel marceau:

                  Comment

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