CENTURY MIME MARCEAU. Marcel Marceau was a famous French mime artist known for his iconic character “Bip”. He has traveled the world performing his shows without words.
March 22, 2023 marks the centenary of Marcel Marceau, one of the most famous pantomimes, who revived this silent art with his character “Bip”. Marcel Mangel, known as pantomime Marceau, has been delighting audiences all over the world with his quiet artistry and incredible expressiveness for decades. His contribution to world culture will forever go down in art history. On this centenary, here is a summary of his life and legacy:
Short biography of Mime Marceau
The mime Marceau was born on March 22, 1923 in Strasbourg into a Jewish Alsatian family. Marcel Marceau was a famous French pantomime known for his iconic character “bite”. He started his career as wear and tear during the Second World War before turning to the theatre. He founded his own mime company in 1947 and traveled the world performing his shows without words. Mime Marceau has also worked in film and television and has been recognized by many countries for his artistic contributions. Marcel Marceau died on September 22, 2007 in Cahors at the age of 84.
The French “Charlie Chaplin”
Marcel Marceau popularized the art of “mimodrama” or “pantomime” and was often referred to as “the French Charlie Chaplin”. Marcel lack, better known as “Mime Marceau”, began his career in 1946 as a resistance fighter in Paris. As a student of one of the founders of modern pantomime, Etienne Decroux, he made his cinematic debut in Marcel Carné’s “Les Enfants du Paradis”. The following year he formed his own company, which until the late 1960s was the only pantomime troupe in the world.
The mime restorer
“Bip”, created in 1947, is undoubtedly the character of Mime Marceau that will be remembered. Inspired by great comedians like Chaplin or Keaton, this new breed of Pierrot, a white clown in a striped leotard wearing a top hat adorned with a red flower, will make him one of the most famous Frenchmen in the world. In addition to reviving and modernizing the “silent comedy”, Marcel Marceau wanted to ensure its dissemination in the post-war period. He directed the International School of Mime from 1969 to 1971 and founded the School of Mimodrame in Paris in 1978.
The private life of Marcel Marceau
Married three times, Marcel Marceau is the father of four children: two boys and two girls. He first married an artist like himself: Huguette Mallet, dancer and actress. Together they have two sons: Michel and Baptiste. He married a second time to Ella Jaroszewicz, another artist, then a third time to Anne Sicco. With the latter, he again became the father of two daughters: Camille and Aurélia.
Marcel Marceau: key data
- March 22, 1947: Birth of the character Bip
- The character Bip, a white clown in baggy pants and a striped leotard, forever wearing a top hat adorned with a red flower, was born on the day of Mime Marceau’s 24th birthday. On March 22, 1947, the man who became inseparable from his interpreter showed his pale face to the public at the Théâtre de Poche in Montparnasse for the first time. Inspired by the great silent film comedians like Chaplin and Keaton, Bip is a new breed of Pierrot, alternately poetic and moving.
- September 22, 2007: Death of the mime Marceau
- At the age of 84, Marcel Marceau finally left the scene after a career of 60 years. “The most famous of the French with Commander Cousteau” was on stages all over the world until the end of his life. After celebrating his 50th birthday in 1997, his favorite character “Bip” said goodbye in 2000. The mime Marceau, on the other hand, celebrated his comeback in 2002 before touring Latin America in 2005.
