Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Jean-Gaspard Deburau
Jean-Gaspard Deburau (born Jan Kaspar Dvorak on July 31, 1796 - June 17, 1846) was a French actor and mime.
Born in Kolín, Bohemia (now Czech Republic), he adapted the conventions of Italian commedia dell'arte to Parisian tastes. He performed in Paris at the Théâtre des Funambules , which was immortalized in Marcel Carné's poetic realist film Les Enfants du Paradis ("Children of Paradise"), 1945. His most famous mime character was Pierrot, whose classic image Debureau fixed, a moonstruck tragic silent suffering lover in a flowing white smock and pantaloons.
Deburau is buried at the famous Parisian cemetary of Père Lachaise Cemetery. After his death his son Charles Durburau took over his school and established the modern tradition of whiteface mime, personified for many English speakers by Marcel Marceau.
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