Legendary ‘The Art of Silence’ Actor Only Said One Word in a Major Movie – It Will Surprise You

A legendary actor best known for his “art of silence” technique uttered the only word in a great film.

Marcel Marceau, a French mime and actor famous for his character Bip the Clown, appeared in feature films throughout the 1960s and 1970s. During this time, he landed roles in Barbarella and Shanks where he played deaf and mute as well as mad scientists, but rarely speaks.

That was until he made an appearance in the Mel Brooks comedy Silent Movie. The 1976 feature film also has no speaking parts, with the characters instead communicating through signs as they did in silent films of the 1920s.

Brooks, a fellow comedian, managed to get a single word out of Marceau in the hit film, and fan theories regarding the “perfect” scene remain, with some believing his role was the reason the film was written . The movie star is seen struggling to reach a ringing phone, applying his signature style and battling the wind that constantly blows him to the back of the room.

But once he finally closed the windows and picked up the phone to hear Brooks, Marty Feldman and the rest of the cast on the other side of the line, viewers finally got to hear the film’s only line. In a block of text, Brooks’ character, Mel Funn, asks: “Hello…Marcel?…I’m Funn. Would you like to be in the first silent film made in over forty years…?”

Marceau then simply responds in French: “No!”

This hilarious joke still resonates with users today, with social media fans taking to X (formerly Twitter) to discuss it. One user revealed: “There’s a theory that the whole movie is made for this one joke, which is even funnier.”

This isn’t the only time Marceau speaks during a film – appearing in the 1974 surreal horror film Shanks as one of his characters spoke, but he also played a separate character in the same film, deaf and mute.