Free Republic

Marcel Marceau, the wiry French mime who did much to revive the art of pantomime, performing as Bip, his chalk-faced character in a stovepipe hat adorned with a red flower, died Saturday. He was 84 years old and lived in France. His death was announced on French radio by Marceau's former assistant, Emmanuel Vacca. Since 1945, when he began his silent career, Marceau performed an average of 200 shows a year, most of them abroad, where he was more highly praised than in his native France. His repertory changed little over the decades, but he played to full houses in...

PARIS (AP) — Marcel Marceau, who revived the art of mime and brought poetry to silence, has died, his former assistant said Sunday. He was 84. Marceau died Saturday in Paris, French media reported. Former assistant Emmanuel Vacca announced the death on France-Info radio, but gave no details about the cause. Wearing white face paint, soft shoes and a battered hat topped with a red flower, Marceau played the entire range of human emotions onstage for more than 50 years, never uttering a word. Offstage, however, he was famously chatty. "Never get a mime talking. He won't stop," he once...

Marceau was the world's best known mime artist The French mime artist Marcel Marceau has died at the age of 84, the AFP news agency has reported. The performer was known around the world for his silent portrayal of a white-faced clown with battered hat.