Marcel Marceau
has officially been named a
United Nations goodwill ambassador for next year's
World Assembly on Aging.
"I am not a man of talk," Marceau said at the start of a ceremony honouring his appointment at
U.N. headquarters on Thursday, April 26, 2001.
"Does art make people better? This is a very important problem. And unfortunately I will say no," he said.
"What is important is action. And this is why I hope that the second World Assembly on Aging in 2002 will be action and not only words."
His task will be to promote awareness of the needs of older people ahead of the U.N.'s second assembly on aging which is to take place on April 8, 2002 in
Madrid,
Spain.
Born in
Strasbourg,
France, in
1923, he studied under
mime master
Etienne Decroux in
Paris.
Bip, the white-faced clown in striped pullover and hat, made his first appearance in 1947.
Marceau founded the
Ecole de Mimodrame de Paris in 1978.
quotes taken from a
cnn.com story.