CENTENARY MIME MARCEAU. Marcel Marceau was a famous French mime known for his iconic character “Bip”. He has traveled the world performing his shows without words.
March 22, 2023 is the day of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Marcel Marceau, one of the most famous mimes, the one who revived this silent art with his character “Bip”. Marcel Mangel, known as mime Marceau, has captivated audiences around the world with his silent artistry and incredible expressiveness for decades. His contribution to world culture will forever be etched in the history of art. On the occasion of this hundredth anniversary, here is a summary of his life and his 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 mime known for his iconic character “Beep”. He started his career as wearing during the Second World War before turning to the theater. 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 honored for his artistic contributions by many countries. Marcel Marceau died on September 22, 2007 in Cahors, at the age of 84.
The French “Charlie Chaplin”
Marcel Marceau made known the art of “mimodrama” or “pantomime” and was often considered the “French Charlie Chaplin”. Marcel Mangel, better known as “Mime Marceau”, began his career in Paris in 1946 after being a resistance fighter. A pupil of one of the founders of modern mime, Etienne Decroux, he appeared for the first time at the cinema in “Les Enfants du Paradis” by Marcel Carné. The following year, he created his own company, the only mime troupe in the world until the end of the 1960s.
The Mime Restorer
“Bip”, created in 1947, is undoubtedly the character of Mime Marceau who will be remembered. Inspired by great comedians like Chaplin or Keaton, this new kind of Pierrot, a white clown in a striped jersey, wearing a top hat decorated with a red flower, will make him one of the most famous French people in the world. foreign. In addition to having revived and modernized the “silent comedy”, in the post-war period, Marcel Marceau wanted to ensure its transmission. He led the International School of Mime from 1969 to 1971 and created the School of Mimodrame in Paris in 1978.
The private life of Marcel Marceau
Marcel Marceau has been married three times and is the father of four children: two boys and two girls. He first married an artist like him: Huguette Mallet, dancer and actress. Together they have two sons: Michel and Baptiste. He marries a second time with Ella Jaroszewicz, another artist, then a third time with Anne Sicco. It is with the latter that he again becomes the father of two daughters: Camille and Aurélia.
Marcel Marceau: key dates
- March 22, 1947: Birth of the character of Bip
- The character of Bip, a white clown in wide trousers and a striped jersey, eternally wearing a top hat adorned with a red flower, was born on the day of the 24th birthday of the Mime Marceau. On March 22, 1947, the one who will henceforth be inseparable from his interpreter shows his pale face for the first time to the public of the Théâtre de Poche in Montparnasse. Inspired by great silent comedians such as Chaplin and Keaton, Bip is a new kind of Pierrot, by turns poetic and moving.
- September 22, 2007: Death of the mime Marceau
- At 84, Marcel Marceau leaves the scene definitively after 60 years of career. “The best known of the French with Commander Cousteau” performed on stages around the world until the end of his life. After celebrating his 50th birthday in 1997, “Bip”, his favorite character, said goodbye in 2000. The mime Marceau, however, made his comeback in 2002 before embarking on a tour of Latin America in 2005.