Jean-Gaspard Deburau

Who was Jean-Gaspard Deburau?

Jean-Gaspard Deburau, sometimes erroneously called Debureau, was a celebrated Bohemian-French mime. He performed from around 1819 to the year of his death at the Théâtre des Funambules, which was immortalized in Marcel Carné's poetic-realist film Children of Paradise, where he appears as a major character. His most famous pantomimic creation was Pierrot—a character that served as the godfather of all the Pierrots of Romantic, Decadent, Symbolist, and early Modernist theater and art.