French president Nicolas Sarkozy has led the tributes to mime artist Marcel Marceau, who has died aged 84.
Mr Sarkozy expressed his "emotion, admiration and respect" for Marceau, who he said "took the stage arts to a peak of perfection."
French culture minister Christine Albanel said his name was "synonymous with the exacting discipline of mime, which he performed with tenderness".
Marceau died on Saturday "surrounded by his family," his daughter Camille said.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Marceau had "a rare gift - that of communicating with each and every one of us, beyond the barrier of language".
'Melody of language'
French broadcaster and critic Jacques Chancel said: "He spoke in silence.
"What is amazing is that - while so many people speak and manage to say nothing - for him it was the silence that brought a whole melody of language."
Marceau will be buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in central Paris.
Joseph Seelig from the London Mime Festival told BBC News 24 Marceau became one of the most famous people in the world because "he worked in a medium that was internationally accessible".
"There was no language, he touched and affected people all over the world," he said.
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