Line #4 Creator/MarcelMarceau


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marcel_marceau_getty_541819285.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:They might say EveryoneHatesMimes, but that never applied to this guy.]]
3
4	Marcel Marceau (real name Marcel Mangel, 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French mime artist, actor and dancer. He was without a doubt the most iconic and influential figure in the art of mime, which he called "The Art of Silence".
5
6	Born in Strasbourg in a family of UsefulNotes/PolishJews who moved to France, he was fascinated by Creator/CharlieChaplin's {{silent movie}}s as a child. He lived in hiding and worked with the [[LaResistance French Resistance]] with his cousin Georges Loinger during most of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ("Marceau" was his NomDeGuerre), taking up mime to entertain Jewish children that he helped smuggle to Switzerland (and to keep them quiet as well in order to not attract German soldiers or Vichy French police patrols), saving them from UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust (which claimed his father, who died in Auschwitz). He gave his first major performance to 3000 Free French and American troops after the Liberation of UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} in August 1944. Once the war ended, he studied dramatic art and mime.
7
8	Marceau [[TropeCodifier codified]] a lot of modern mime, finding inspiration in KabukiTheatre and CommediaDellArte to breathe new life into the art form and subsequently elevating it to the level of high culture. He created his trademark character of Bip the Clown in 1947, as well as his pantomime company that same year, which found success with tours in France and worldwide in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He founded his school of pantomime in Paris in 1978, which closed in 2005.
9
10	He was friends with Music/MichaelJackson, who acknowledged taking him as inspiration for some of his dance choregraphies. He also made a few film appearances, most notably in ''Film/{{Barbarella}}'' and AsHimself in Creator/MelBrooks' ''Film/SilentMovie'' as Bip the Clown. Creator/JesseEisenberg portrayed him in 2020's ''Film/{{Resistance\|2020}}'', a {{biopic}} about his life during World War II.
11
12	No relation to actress Creator/SophieMarceau, who also took "Marceau" as {{Stage Name\|s}}.
13	----
14	!!Tropes about his performances:
15
16	* MoonwalkDance: His "walking against the wind" routine. It was one of Michael Jackson's sources of inspiration actually.
17	* InvisibleWall: Whenever he mimed being trapped in a room or cage or climbing a ladder.
18	* IronyAsSheIsCast:
19	** He had a talking role in ''Film/{{Barbarella}}'', and quite a lot of lines at that, despite being the king of the Art of Silence.
20	** In ''Film/SilentMovie'', as his trademark mime character Bip, he utters the [[BigNo one single spoken word]] in the whole picture.
21	* TheVoiceless: He called mime "The Art of Silence" for a reason.
22	* [[invoked]]WhatCouldHaveBeen: He and Michael Jackson had planned to stage shows together, but that never happened, likely due to Michael's own much publicized personal troubles that started in TheNineties.

Context Creator / MarcelMarceau