Reply
Sun 23 Sep, 2007 09:15 am
I didn't think mimes lived that long.
I heard he hung himself with an invisible rope.
yeah, I know it's terrible, but you know you smiled
We shall have a moment of silence for Marcel Marceaux.
Nope, I didn't smile. Sad news......
i wonder if he'll be buried in an invisible box
with the pall bearers pulling him along with invisible ropes while walking into the wind
Will the eulogy will be mimed by the priest?
did he have any last words?
...strumming an invisible harp with the angels
littlek wrote:Nope, I didn't smile. Sad news......
oh cmon, the man was a legend. i'm sure he knew that there would be a million jokes when he died. he wouldn't have made it to 84 if the idea had bothered him that much. rest in peace, marcel.
Re: ...strumming an invisible harp with the angels
tinygiraffe wrote:
oh cmon, the man was a legend. i'm sure he knew that there would be a million jokes when he died.
Really? Why?
tinygiraffe wrote:he wouldn't have made it to 84 if the idea had bothered him that much.
Well, he was the United Nations goodwill ambassador for aging ...
well, I do have to agree with tinyg on this.
Marceau spent his life making people laugh.
I don't see gentle joking that is not mean spirited as an insult to the man. On the contrary, the fact that so many can think of something to (not) say, is a small homage to him.
It isn't making fun of him, it's making note of his contribution to the world.
BTW, remember his role in "Silent Movie"?
He had the only speaking part in the entire movie.
Oh Walter....why not print the entire story? He wasn't as bleak at all that....
Harlequin, Chaplin & Keaton are all humorus characters/people. All of them had a spirit of sadness about them, but, made the best of it, and triumphed.
Yes, he made people think, and....he made people laugh.
On a tiny stage at the Theatre de Poche, a smoke-filled Left Bank cabaret, he sought to perfect the style of mime that would become his trademark.
Bip - Marceau's on-stage persona - was born.
Marceau once said that Bip was his creator's alter ego, a sad-faced double whose eyes lit up with child-like wonder as he discovered the world. Bip was a direct descendant of the 19th century harlequin, but his clownish gestures, Marceau said, were inspired by Chaplin and Keaton.
Marceau likened his character to a modern-day Don Quixote, "alone in a fragile world filled with injustice and beauty."
Dressed in a white sailor suit, a top hat - a red rose perched on top - Bip chased butterflies and flirted at cocktail parties. He went to war and ran a matrimonial service.
In one famous sketch, "Public Garden," Marceau played all the characters in a park, from little boys playing ball to old women with knitting needles.
In 1949 Marceau's newly formed mime troupe was the only one of its kind in Europe. But it was only after a hugely successful tour across the United States in the mid-1950s that Marceau received the acclaim that would make him an international star.
Single-handedly, Marceau revived the art of mime.
"I have a feeling that I did for mime what (Andres) Segovia did for the guitar, what (Pablo) Casals did for the cello," he once told The Associated Press in an interview.
In the past decades, he has taken Bip to from Mexico to China to Australia. He's also made film appearances. The most famous was Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie": He had the only speaking line, "Non!"
As he aged, Marceau kept on performing. On top of his Legion of Honour and his countless honorary degrees, he was invited to be a United Nations goodwill ambassador for a 2002 conference on aging.
One interesting thing from the interview was the fact that in real life, he was quite chatty. He said, "Don't ever get a mime talking, he'll never stop"
Yup! He said,"Non (no)!" in the movie!
Yes, and the fact that in North America that he was most often seen by large audiences in the '60s and '70s and not recently but well remembered by such a broad range of people...is a tribute to his fame and his staying power.
His deeds and his light-heartedness speak volumes!
it's funny cause it's true
the worst thing when a comedic genius like marcel marceaux dies wouldn't be to make jokes-
the worst thing we could do is say nothing at all...
wait wait wait wait!
"did you hear? marcel marceaux died..."
"no, he's a mime!"
thank you yes, "laugh silently" amongst yourselves...
Talking about this doesn't feel right.
A little segway if I may.
Sometimes when I watching a forgein film with subtitles, I find myself turning up the volumne, even though I don't speak the language.
Oh yeah, that's better, I can read the subtitles so much better now.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace