Marcel Marceau
Pioneering French mime artist, globally renowned for his silent character, Bip the Clown.
Chronology: 1923-03-22 – 2007-09-22
Origins & Early Life
Marcel Marceau (French: [maʁsɛl maʁso]; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French mime artist and actor most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", performing professionally worldwide for more than 60 years. == Early life and education == Marcel Marceau was born on 22 March 1923 in Strasbourg, France, to a Jewish family. His father, Charles Mangel, was a kosher butcher originally from Będzin, Poland.
Pivotal Works & Achievements
His mother, Anne Werzberg, came from Yabluniv, present-day Ukraine. Through his mother's family, he was a cousin of Israeli singer Yardena Arazi. When Marcel was four years old, the family moved to Lille, but they later moved to England. After France's invasion by Nazi Germany, Marcel, then 17, fled with his family to Limoges. His cousin Georges Loinger, one of the members of the French Jewish Resistance in France (Organisation Juive de Combat-OJC, aka Armée Juive), urged him to join in order to help rescue Jews during the Holocaust.
Enduring Legacy & Impact
The OJC, which was composed of nine clandestine Jewish networks, rescued thousands of Jewish children and adults during the war in France. He was schooled in the Paris suburbs...
Source: Wikipedia