Marcel Marceau was a famous French mime born in 1923. He came from a Jewish family and changed his last name during WWII to hide his Jewish identity while helping Jews escape Nazi-occupied France. After the war, he studied mime in Paris and developed his own style that became popular worldwide. Over his career, Marceau performed mime on stage, screen, and television around the world. He also appeared in several films while continuing to teach mime until his death in 2007 at age 84.

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Marcel Marceau
Marcel was born in 22nd March 1923.He was a very popular actor from France
who has been seen in films and on TV. Mainly associated to the dramatic
tradition of mime.
He came from a Jewish family that had a creative lean based on the
countless dancers and musicians that it created. When he was 15 Marcel
changed his last name to Marceau (after a famous French general), to hide
his Jewish origins when France entered WWII. Together Marceau and his
brother Alain worked in the French underground, often risking their lives to
help out Jews escape their engaged homeland.
Young Marcel went so far as to show a Boy Scout director to lead hundreds
of young Jewish children on "hikes" in the Alps, helping them flee into
Switzerland.
By 1944, Marceau's father was deported to Auschwitz (where he passed
away), and Marceau and his brother departed to Paris, where they felt safe.
It was at this time that Marceau resumed his previous dreams of becoming
an actor, motivated by silent film greats like Chaplin, Keaton, and the
Marx_Brothers.
Finally in 1946, he enrolled in the famous Charles Dullin School of Dramatic
Art where he studied under Etienne_Decroux, who introduced him to the art
form of mime. Shortly after Marceau developed his own different style of
mine, which was easily accessible to a mass audience. As his fame grew, he
produced what he called "mimodramas" which led rapidly to what is currently
famous as modern mime.
Over the next ten years Marceau appeared on stage, screen, and television,
making his mark in all art forms, even though his live performance will be
what he is best remembered for; it was in the 1950s that Americans
everywhere were awakened to the magic of mime because of his appearances
on TV. At the same time as he did not appear in a large number of films,
Marceau did apply his art to the fullest advantage. In First Class, he played
17 different roles; in Shanks he played the title character who is a deaf-
mute puppeteer, allowing him to showcase his talent. He also appeared in

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Barbarella as Professor Ping, and was the only one among a speaking part in
the Mel Brooks comedy Silent Movie ("Non!"). Marceau continuously appeared
in various film projects throughout his later life, but the greater part of
those years he spent teaching his craft to others. After formally retiring
from stage movement in 2005, Marceau died of private causes at age 84, in
22nd September 2007. All Movie Guide