Marcel Marceau

Marcel Marceau was a French actor and mime most famous for his stage persona as Bip the Clown. He referred to mime as the art of silence, and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. As a youth, he lived in hiding and worked with the French Resistance during most of World War II, giving his first major performance to 3000 troops after the liberation of Paris in August 1944. Following the war, he studied dramatic art and mime in Paris.

He was born Marcel Mangel in Strasbourg, France to a Jewish family. His parents were Ann Werzberg and Charles Mangel, a kosher butcher. When Marcel was four years old, the family moved to Lille, but they later returned to Strasbourg. When France entered World War II, Marcel, 16, fled with his family to Limoges. In 1944 Marcels father was captured and deported to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was killed. Marcels mother survived.

Source: Wikipedia