hollywood: Marcel Marceau

Sunday, 1 July 2012

Marcel Marceau

Marcel Marceau was the legendary mime, who survived the Nazi occupation, and saved many children in WWII. He was regarded for his peerless style pantomime, moving audiences without uttering a single word, and was known to the World as a "master of silence." Marcel and his older brother, Alain, adopted the last name "Marceau" during the German occupation of France; the name was chosen as a reference to François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, a general of the French Revolution.^[2]^[3] The two brothers joined the French Resistance in Limoges, where they saved numerous children from the race laws and concentration camps, and, after the liberation of Paris, joined the French army.^[2] Owing to Marcel's excellent command of the English language, he worked as a liaison officer with General George Patton's army.^[2]^[4] Marcel started miming as a way of keeping children quiet as they were escaping to neutral Switzerland.^[5]