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Remarkable Heroes and Heroines of the French Resistance in World War II

Khalid Elhassan May 12, 2025 18 min

Resistance - Women and men of the French Resistance — Women and men of the French Resistance. Pegasus Battlefield Tours

7. Before He Became Famous, This Global Star Was in the French Resistance

Marcel Marceau and Michael Jackson. Espaco Michael Jackson

Marcel Marceau (1923 – 2007) was and remains the world’s most famous mime. His white-faced character, the melancholy vagabond Bip, became globally famous from TV and stage appearances. Among many accomplishments in his long and eventful career, Marceau won an Emmy Award, and got declared a national treasure in Japan despite the fact that he was not even Japanese.

He was also admitted to the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts as a member, and became a decades-long friend of Michael Jackson. Indeed, the King of Pop borrowed some of Marceau’s moves and used them in his dance routines. Before he became world famous, however, Marceau spent most of WWII in hiding and working for the French Resistance.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.