Marcel Marceau's name was Mangel, and he took this one in the Resistance, where he smuggled into Switzerland Jewish children whom he taught to keep silent. His father was arrested in 1944 and murdered at Auschwitz; he never made a show of it, but that is where his art of silence comes from. He created Bip on his twenty-fourth birthday, and his backward glide became the moonwalk.
The story
Marcel Mangel was born in Strasbourg on 22 March 1923, the son of a Jewish butcher. He joined the Resistance in 1942 and took the alias Marceau, which he kept for life. He helped move Jewish children across to Switzerland, teaching them to keep quiet and to look like children out for a walk.
His father was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and murdered at Auschwitz. Marceau never made a performance out of that story, but his art of silence comes from it.
A pupil of Charles Dullin, Jean-Louis Barrault and Étienne Decroux, he created his character on 22 March 1947, his twenty-fourth birthday: Bip, a moonstruck Pierrot with a white face, blackened eyes, a red mouth, a battered top hat and a red flower.
His walk against the wind became a set exercise, and his backwards glide was made famous by Michael Jackson under the name of the moonwalk. He founded his company in 1947, his school of mime in 1978, and entered the Academy of Fine Arts in 1991.
He died at Cahors on 22 September 2007. His stone, in Division 21, says nothing about the mime: two towns, two dates, and a resistance alias that became a stage name.
On site, do not miss
Two cities and two dates: Strasbourg 1923, Cahors 2007 — and a name taken in the Resistance.
Visitors' questions
Where is Marcel Marceau's grave?
In Division 21, chemin Berthollé, eighth row, in the old part of the cemetery. The stone is plain: his name, Strasbourg and Cahors, and the two dates, 22 March 1923 and 22 September 2007.
Jane AvrilWhat did he do during the war?
He joined the Resistance in 1942, at nineteen, and took the name Marceau there. He helped smuggle Jewish children across the border into Switzerland. His father was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and murdered at Auschwitz.
The crematorium and the columbariumWho is Bip?
His character, created on 22 March 1947, his twenty-fourth birthday: a moonstruck Pierrot with a white face, smoky eyes and a red mouth, wearing a battered top hat topped with a red flower. He played him for sixty years.
Marcel MouloudjiDid he invent the moonwalk?
His walking-backwards routine, a classic mime exercise, was made famous by Michael Jackson under that name. His “walking against the wind” likewise became a standard exercise taught in every mime school.
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