Iconic French mime pioneer found love with three influential performing artists

Who was Marcel Marceau’s first wife?

Marcel Marceau was born in Strasbourg, France on March 22, 1923. In his early years, he was married to Huguette Mallet with whom he shared two children.

Mallet was married to Marceau for the early years of his acting career. They were together when Marceau founded the Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau, the only pantomime company in the world at that point. Marceau founded the company in 1949 in order to develop a specific art of silence.

It is unknown whether Huguette Mallet had a career. However, she can be pictured above with her husband at a hotel in Erfurt, then East Germany, after a performance alongside Marcel Marceau. This would indicate Mallet had a career in the performing arts as well.

Marceau and his first wife separated in 1958.

Marcel’s second wife was previously

Marcel Marceau was married three times throughout his life. After divorcing from Huguette Mallet, Marceau was married to Elzbieta “Ella” Jaroszewicz, a French-Polish choreographer and mime artist. They crossed paths when Marceau was returning to France from performing in Russia. The late mime artist stopped in Wroclaw, Poland and visited Henryk Tomaszewski’s company Pantomima. Jaroszewicz missed Marceau’s visit, as she was in hospital being treated for appendicitis. Upon hearing that one of their company was unwell, Marceau sent flowers to his future wife.

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They met for the first time in person when Pantomima was invited to the Festival of the Nations in Paris, at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater. Marceau came to see the company’s performance and was impressed by Jaroszewicz. They became romantically acquainted and married in 1966.

“I had two loves in my life,” Ella Jaroszewicz explained. “Marcel Marceau and my company.” Their schedules complicated their relationship, as both were often in different countries for work. But the love between the pair remained strong, with Jaroszewicz praising the late mime artist as her great influence and love.

Marcel Marceau was thought to be married to Anne Sicco until his death

In the early 1970s, Marcel Marceau met his third wife, Anne Sicco. Sicco was just 19 years old when they met, whereas Marceau was nearing 50. She, a young fan, wandered into Marceau’s dressing room, where they first became acquainted.

They married in 1975 and resided in Paris. Sicco would go on to teach experimental theatre at Marceau’s mime school. They had two daughters together, Camille and Aurélia. Marceau shared two sons with his first wife.

Obituaries for Marceau state that he was married to Anne Sicco until his death. When he passed on September 22, 2007, he was said to be “survived by his wife,” being Sicco. However, other reports contest this fact, stating that Marceau and Sicco separated in 1984, just nine years into their marriage.

Anne Sicco reportedly stopped teaching at Marceau’s mime school in 1985. She would go on to found her own company a year later

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