Marcel Marceau 1923-2007

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If you hate mimes (it's a common prejudice), blame the poor imitators of this eloquent pantomime artist, not the man himself. A hero of the French Resistance, Marceau was an international postwar sensation playing the silent Everyman trapped in a cage or walking against the wind. In Mel Brooks' Silent Movie he spoke the film's only word: Non! But his life was one long affirmative, revealing the possibilities in a smile, a shrug, the will to move on.

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Next: Tammy Faye Messner 1942-2007 >>

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The defiant monks of Burma became an online sensation. Rupert Murdoch got the newspaper of his dreams. Barry Bonds broke a historic record, while Britney Spears just broke down. Read about them and others who left their mark on 2007

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In Tribute

Evel Knievel, Norman Mailer, Lady Bird Johnson, Max Roach, Ingmar Bergman, Beverly Sills, Yolanda King, Robert Goulet, Phil Rizzuto and many others left us—but not before making a distinct impression

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TIME's Interview with Vladimir Putin

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