“Who’s that mime?” is likely what many Google users are asking today when accessing the search engine.
Instead of seeing the colorful logo, March 22′s illustration featured a mime standing in place of the “L” in Google. Click on the logo and you’ll learn that Google celebrated the 100th birthday of French mime and actor Marcel Marceau.
Referred to as a master of silence by Google, Marceau was born in 1923 in Strasbourg, France with the last name Mangel. He grew up watching silent films and entertaining friends by impersonating actors and mimes. Mangel changed his name to Marceau after Nazi Germany occupied France, so as to avoid being identified as Jewish.
During World War II, Marceau used his miming skills to keep children quiet while making several trips to smuggle Jewish children out of the fascists’ hands and into Switzerland, treks that saved 70 children, according to Google. Marceau’s father was…
