Silence falls on Marcel Marceau, master of the mime

[helderheid]

Monday, September 24, 2007

By John Lichfield

When great actors die, they are said to "fall silent". The mime artist Marcel Marceau, who died at the weekend, had been delighting the world in silence for 60 years.

In Paris on Saturday, he, and his restless alter-ego "Bip", fell still. He was 84.

Marceau was perhaps the most loved and internationally admired of all French people. "Bip" – a pale, elastic-limbed clown with a striped shirt and limp red flower in his battered hat – was instantly recognisable from the United States to China.

"Bip" was inspired by the work of Charlie Chaplin, Harpo Marx and other early film stars. He also drew on – and revived – older, European traditions of silent theatre, such as the Italian Commedia dell'arte.

Marceau once suggested another, darker, reason for his wordless art. He was born into a French Jewish family in 1923. His father, Charles Mangel, a butcher, was deported from France in 1944 and died in Auschwitz concentration camp.

"The people who came back from the camps were never able to talk about it," he once said. "My name is Mangel. I am Jewish. Perhaps that, unconsciously, contributed towards my choice of silence."

RIP.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/world/europe/article2993672.ece

[IDemo]

1. How about a moment of non-silence?

[SoCalDem]

8. My thoughts exactly

:hug:

he was a gem :)

[Tyler Durden]

2. His skit of the masks never failed to move me to tears...

First time I saw it I was a child, and I hid that I wept.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I'm feeling like Cassandra now:

From July 22nd: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=6747696&mesg_id=6747700

[Warpy]

4. I saw him back in the 70s and was astonished

His performances in person were wonderful, completely different from the small bits he did on, say, the Ed Sullivan Show. People would be laughing one minute, crying the next, and all without a word. He was the world's greatest poet of physical movement.

No one has ever equaled his artistry, and I'm afraid no one ever will.

It made all the bad mimes of the late 70s and early 80s annoying people in the street just that much more annoying.

[Captain Hilts]

12. He really was something unique. nt

[Drifter]

5. I hate mimes ...

As a Juggler, I hate mimes.

As with any performance art, it is difficult to watch anything that is not done with absolute perfection. This is especially true for me and mimes.

Marcel Marceau is the only mime that I can not only watch, but I find it hard to look away.
A true master.

Cheers
Drifter

[Cirque du So-What]

6. I was unaware of his heritage

and it's a pity that I only discover it after his death. It changes my interpretation of his art completely. I anticipate more than a few tears while revisiting his performances.

[helderheid]

13. same

[DS1]

7. ..has now perfected 'mime in a box'

[poverlay]

10. My wife asked if he "...went quietly?". Sick woman, but I love her...n/t

[wildhorses]

14. you are so00o bad --

:spank:

[bdamomma]

9. he was great.

[Captain Hilts]

11. What was his last gesture? nt

[shenmue]

15. Rest in peace

:cry: