Marcel Marceau

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Brian Begley

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Sep 24, 2007, 4:52:29 PM9/24/07

to Anthony Begley, Arthur Begley, Begley, Mary, Bruce Chandler, Chad Cable, Dan Workman, Dr Bruce Shapiro, Eric Hagen, Gray, Bruce, Jason Henjes, John Fenn, Julia Pachoud Bennett, Keith Goeden, Ken Robbins, Kim Bartling, Kurt Masteller, Mike Hilson, Pete Murray, Shane Schroder, Sioux Region Theatre

My teacher and and inspiration, Marcel Marceau died yesterday. He was 84.

He is known as the father of modern mime, and along with Etienne Decroux developed most of the illusions we associate with mime today. Mary and I studied under him in 1984, and he has been a lifelong inspiration to me.

He was also a passionate advocate of peace, and survived the Nazi occupation in the French underground. He told us that as a French Jew and artist, "I saw most of my friends murdered" (during the 1940s.) He performed a very moving piece, "Bip Remembers" which has haunted me my entire adult life. It is a piece about the triumph of peace over hatred, and he believed young people would someday stand up to all the old politicians and say, “We will not fight for you.” He was invited to address the UN General Assembly. He was truly a great man. We will miss him.

In honor of his life's work, Discovery Mime Theatre observed a minute of talking. . . I’m sure he’d appreciate the joke.

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