Obituary

[ushagvegruy]

Yesterday one of the great performers of this age passed away. Marcel Marceau was one of the most famous mimes in the world. Anytime you see a mime performing in the streets with a white face, he is imitating Marceau, he was the first mime to perform with a white face. They are imitating his character that he created, Bip who had a white face not only to make his expression more noticeable, but also to hark-en back to the days of Comedia Del Arte. For him it was a kind of mask. Marceau was inspired to study mime after seeing a Charlie Chaplin film. He created his own form of mime after studying corporeal mime with the famous French mime Etienne Decroux.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau

My mime teacher studied with him in Paris and said that he was still performing when he was 80.