Marcel Marceau, Legendary Mime, Dies at 84

Marcel Marceau, the man widely considered responsible for defining the art of mime, has died at the age of 84.

According his former publicist Marceau died on Saturday in Paris.

Marceau began his trek to fame shortly after World War II when he enrolled at the Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art in France where he studied under the famous Etienne Decroux.

With his on-stage character Bip, Marceau transformed human emotion into human movement and transformed how mime was perceived and created. Perhaps his best know performance, entitled “Youth, Maturity, Old Age, Death,” displayed the journey of life in just a few moments.

Taking inspiration from silent film star Charlie Chaplin, Marceau incorporated several characteristics and idiosyncrasies from his idol and placed them in Bip. He rose to international fame after a tour of the United States in the mid-1950s and quickly became one of the most recognizable figures in the world.

The French Government honored Marceau with their highest honor “Officier de la Légion d'honneur” and bestowed upon him the Medaille Vermeil de la Ville de Paris. He was an elected member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and held honorary doctorates United States institutions such as Ohio State University, Princeton University and the University of Michigan.