Marcel Marceau

"My art is an elusive art . . . making the invisible visible and the visible invisible."

-Marcel Marceau

His face chalked, his head crowned by a ridiculous pink-feathered hat, Marcel Marceau stands alone in the glare of a spotlight and creates worlds of experience-yet never utters a sound. (He has even depicted the creation of the world in his most ambitious work.) Marceau is "the master of mime," a wizard of illusion, one of the theater's supreme artists. This magical book grew out of his friendship with photographer Ben martin. The text reviews Marceau's life, influences and philosophy, describes the traditions he inherited, and pays homage to his towering talent, which enabled him to surpass them. The hundreds of brilliant photographs show the private life as well as the public image-periods of relaxation as well as electrifying moments in performance-and, as always, they testify to the mystery, the silent eloquence, the thousand and one gestures of Marceau, the genius who revolutionized the ancient art of pantomime.

"A superb collection of photos . . . a treasure"

-Los Angeles Times

"Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime" is a beautiful and moving book . . . a tribute worthy of its star."

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat