Marcel Marceau

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On March 22nd 1923, in Strasbourg, France, Marcel Marceau was born into a Jewish Family. His family included his parents Ann Werzberg and Charles Mangel and his younger brother Alain Marceau. At the age of 5, Ann Werzberg, Marcel’s mother, took Marcel to a Charlie Chaplin's movie, through which he developed his love and passion for Mime. As a young child Marcel created a distinct love for language, which later became his inspiration in learning English, French, and German. At the beginning of the Second World War, his family was forced to hide their Jewish beliefs and was required to flee their home in France. During the war his father, Charles Mangel was sent to a Nazi Concentration Camp and was later killed in 1944. Marcel gave his first public performance to over 3000 troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944, towards the end of the Second World War.
After the end of The Second World War, in 1946 Marcel enrolled as a student at The Charles Dullin’s School of Dramatic Art, which was located at the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre in Paris, France. At The Charles Dullin’s School of Dramatic Art, Marcel studied under the direction of Etienne Decroux, one of his first teachers. Through Jean-Louis Barrault, an apprentice to Etienne Decroux, Marcel was casted his first acting role and was given the role of Arlequin in the stage production of Baptiste, and later created the mimodrame Praxitele Et Le Poisson D’or known as Praxitele And The Golden Fish. Soon after Marcel joined one of the only companies of pantomime in the world, “Compagnie de Mimodrame” also known as “Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau” thorough which Marcel gained experience-performing mime. In 1959, Marcel established his own school L’ecole Internationale De Mime ...

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...”, which to me is familiar to the aspects I have learnt in class. Overall Marcel Marceau is a very important figure in Mime and has taught and inspired people around the world.

Based on my research and class experience with Mime, the Art of Mime is a way to express the feelings and emotions of a character though movements and facial expressions without the use of speech. Today Mime is an important technique used in acting due to the movements and expressions used to create a specific essence. It is important to learn mime because it shows actors that movements are important and is vital to create a feeling or reaction portrayed by a character.

Work Cited
"Biography." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
"Marcel Marceau Remembered (PBS Newshour)." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Sept. 2007. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

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