Marcel Marceau died

Marcel Marceau was the first European mime to be seen in the Soviet Union. He arrived in 1957 and shocked the public so much that ten, twenty, and thirty years later, the image of this modern Pierrot, the thin and flexible little man Bip in a vest and hat, inspired Soviet artists. He really had a huge influence on many, but Vysotsky’s song immortalized him: “She was in Paris, Marcel Marceau himself said something to her there.”

The future genius was born in 1923 in Strasbourg, into a family of immigrants from Poland, and his name was then Markel Mangel. He began performing on stage as a child, at the age of nine. During the war, he fought in the ranks of the French army, and in 1944 he entered the school of dramatic art at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater in Paris, where he studied with Eugene Decroix and Jean-Louis Barrault. He takes the pseudonym Marcel Marceau (the surname of one of Napoleonic generals) and comes up with his main mask - Bipa, a mixture of the traditional lunar Pierrot and a little man, something taken from the comedies of Charlie Chaplin, but also from the heroes of Sholom Aleichem or from Gogol's "The Overcoat" . Already in 1947, Marceau created his own troupe “Commonwealth of Mimes”, where all his famous performances took place - “Death before Dawn”, “Adolescence. Maturity. Old age. Death”, “Paris Laughs, Paris Cries”, “The Overcoat”, “David and Goliath”...

Marcel Marceau toured the United States for the first time in 1955-1956, after which he became a very frequent and always beloved guest there. He participated in television programs (he has two Emmy awards), starred in films (more than a dozen roles), taught master classes, and his fame grew. Marceau begins to tour with solo performances around the world (he visited the Soviet Union three times). In 1978 he created the Paris School of Pantomime. He writes poetry, composes stories, draws, and publishes children's books. The French government has awarded Mr. Marceau the highest titles: Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, Chevalier of the Order of Merit of Arts and Letters, first class, and Chevalier of the National Order of Merit, second class. He is an elected member of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, as well as a member of the prestigious Institut de France, and has received honorary doctorates from Princeton University, The Ohio State University, Linfield College and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

In 2002, Marceau became a UN Goodwill Ambassador working on aging issues. Then he said: “I’m sure you can be young and have the heart of an old man. And vice versa, a very young heart can beat in the chest of an elderly person. It’s difficult for many in the world, especially the elderly. But life can be beautiful, even if it’s hard. And for whom It’s a shame for a clown to talk about this.” He himself did not take it easy that the best time of his life was behind him, but he tried to overcome illnesses and weakness and continued to perform - back in 2004, he toured America and Europe with his main repertoire, and the public could not imagine what was ahead she is a man who has already turned 80 years old... His box office receipts were record-breaking... It seemed that he had not changed at all...

Marcel Marceau died at the age of 85.

Culture Department