18. The World-Class Entertainer Who Joined the Resistance as a Teen
Marcel Marceau (1923 – 2007), was the world’s most famous mime. His white-faced character, the melancholy vagabond Bip, became globally famous from TV and stage appearances. His accomplishments during a long and eventful career included winning an Emmy Award; getting declared a national treasure in Japan notwithstanding that he was not even Japanese; becoming a member of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts; and becoming a decades-long friend of Michael Jackson, who borrowed some of Marceau’s moves in his dance routines.
However, before becoming world-famous, Marceau spent most of WWII in hiding and working for the French resistance. After the Allies landed in France, he gave his first major performance before an audience of 3000 troops in recently-liberated Paris. He then joined the Free French army for the remainder of the war. His talent for languages and near fluency in English and German-led to his appointment as a liaison officer with Patton’s Third US Army.
