Marceau, Marcel (1923–2007)

French mime artist. A central figure in the development of the art of mime, he was the creator of the clown-harlequin Bip and mime sequences such as ‘Youth, Maturity, Old Age, and Death’.

Famed for his style and grace, Marceau studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France, as well as with French pantomimist Etienne Decroux (1898–1991). He first performed as Bip in 1947 and founded a mime troupe, the Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau, the following year. During the 1950s he became internationally famous, performing on stage and on television. He started his own school of mime, Ecole de Mimodrame Marcel Marceau, in 1978.

He received the Raoul Wallenberg Medal in 2001 and became a United Nations goodwill ambassador for the aged in 2002.