Marcel Marceau-The World’s Most Famous Mime [VIDEO]

Marcel Marceau (You Tube)

The world's most famous mime Marcel Marceau was born in France March 22, 1923. He spread the silent art form of mime internationally and I was one of his many fans.

I was lucky enough to see Marceau perform in Denver on a high school field trip and often considered trying to attend his school of mime in Paris. Without saying a word he could convey so much emotion. He died in September of 2007.

Along with portraying his most famous character Bip the clown, Marceau appeared in several movies. He showed his versatility in First Class, in which he played 17 roles, Shanks, where he combined his silent art, playing a deaf and mute puppeteer, and his speaking talent, as a mad scientist; he played Professor Ping in Barbarella with Jane Fonda and had a cameo as himself in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie, in which, with purposeful irony, his character has the only audible speaking part, uttering the single word "No!" when Brooks asks him (subtitled) if he would participate in the film.

You might have seen other mimes in movies for instance silent film actors Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Harpo Marx. On television there have been Red Skelton, Shields and Yarnell, The Blue Man Group, Bill Irwin and Ray Teller of Penn & Teller. All have said so much without saying a word.