Marcel Mangel(Marceau, Marcel)

1923 - Marcel Mangel, born on the 22nd of March in Strasbourg, NE France. He is better known by his stage name Marcel Marceau, is a well-known mime, among the most popular representatives of this art form world-wide.

1946 - He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and with Etienne Decroux.

1947 - His white-faced character, Bip, based on the 19th-c French Pierrot, a melancholy vagabond, is famous from his appearances on stage and television throughout the world.

1948 - He founded the Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau, developing the art of mime, becoming himself the leading exponent.

1964 - 1971 - His many original performances he has devised are the mime-drama Don Juan and the ballet Candide.

1978 - He became head of the Ecole de Mimodrame Marcel Marceau.

1996 - He established the Marceau Foundation to promote mime in the United States.

2000 - He brought his full mime company to New York City for presentation of his new mimodrama, The Bowler Hat, previously seen in Paris, London, Tokyo, Taipei, Caracas, Santo Domingo, Valencia (Venezuela) and Munich.

2002 - He accepted the honor and responsibilities of serving as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Second World Assembly on Aging, which took place in Madrid, Spain, in April.

• "I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth."
• "Never get a mime talking. He won't stop."
• "To communicate through silence is a link between the thoughts of man."
• "Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words?"
• "I have spent more than half a lifetime trying to express the tragic moment."