Google Doodles frequently commemorate famous individuals, special occasions, and influential yet less recognized individuals.
What is today’s Google Doodle?
Today’s Google Doodle marks what would have been the 100th birthday of French mime artist Marcel Marceau.
Why is Marcel Marceau being remembered?
Marcel Marceau is widely regarded as the most famous mime artist in history, but his early life is equally fascinating.
Born Marcel Mangel in 1923 in Strasbourg, France, he changed his surname to Marceau during the German occupation of France to avoid being identified as Jewish. Marceau’s childhood passion for silent films and impersonations of famous actors and mimes later became the foundation of his silent acting skills, which he used to help smuggle Jewish children out of Nazi-occupied France during the Second World War. He made three such trips and liberated at least 70 children.
After the war, Marceau studied dramatic acting and mime in Paris and went on to create his famous character, Bip the Clown, a tragicomic figure that explored the range of human emotions. He founded the Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau, the only pantomime company in the world at the time, to develop the art of silence. Marceau’s performances, both on stage and in television and movies, introduced the world to the art of miming.
He played numerous roles in films, including 17 in First Class, and won an Emmy for Best Specialty Act for his 1956 appearance on the Max Liebman Show of Shows. Beyond his acting career, Marceau also directed a mime drama and authored two children’s books.
Marcel Marceau’s legacy as a master of silence and a brilliant entertainer continues to inspire and delight audiences worldwide.
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