Taro Maruse

Maruse Taro (マルセ太郎, 6 December 1933 in Osaka, Japan - 22 January 2001 in Tokyo) was a Japanese mime artist, comedian, vaudevillian and movie star. His true name was Masanori Kimbara (金原正周) or Kim Kyun-hong (Korean: 김균홍, Hanja: 金均洚), however the famous pantomime artist Marcel Marceau was the influence for his vaudevillian name. Maruse was born in Osaka, Ikuno, where there is a large Korean population especially in the Ikuno Korea Town area. His father and grandfather are also from the Korean Peninsula. After graduation from high school, he moved to Tokyo and began working as a new wave actor. Maruse gained a reputation amongst audiences for miming apes with advanced techniques.