The famous French master of mime, Marcel Marceau, passed away in Paris at the age of 84. Former assistant Emmannuel Vacca told French radio that the performer died on Saturday, but gave no details.

Marceau was inspirational to performers and artists around the world, including Michael Jackson. It has been said that the moonwalk was based on a performance piece titled “Walking Against The Wind” by Marcel Marceau. Both performers found shared inspiration from silent film star Charlie Chaplin.

Offstage, he was famously chatty. “Never get a mime talking. He won’t stop,” he once said.

Marcel Marceau revived a form of art that had its beginnings in ancient Greece. His famous character, Bip, was developed in 1947. Bip was a direct descendant of a 19th century harlequin. Marceau said that his clownish gestures were partly inspired by Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. He likened his character to a modern – day Don Quixote, “alone in a fragile world filled with injustice and beauty.”

Marcel Marceau traveled around the world, performing in Asia, Europe and the United States. He called the United States his “second country,” performing first in 1955 and returning every two years. In September 2005, he traveled to Cuba to perform there.

He took his art to stages across the world, performing in Asia, Europe and the United States, his “second country,” where he first performed in 1955 and returned every two years. He performed for Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Tireless, Marceau took his art to Cuba for the first time in September 2005.

Marceau continued to perform as he aged and retained the nimble agility that made him famous. He received the Legion of Honor and countless honorary degrees and was invited to attend the United Nations as a goodwill ambassador for a 2002 conference on aging.

“If you stop at all when you are 70 or 80, you cannot go on,” he told the AP in 2003. “You have to keep working.”

In a statement, President Nicolas Sarkozy said that “France loses one of its most eminent ambassadors. Prime Minister Francois Fillon spoke of Marceau as being “the master” with the rare ability of “being able to communicate with each and everyone beyond the barriers of language.”

Source: Associated Press

Category: General News