Helmut Berger
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2023) |
Helmut Berger | |
---|---|
Born | Helmut Steinberger 29 May 1944 Bad Ischl, Austria |
Died | 18 May 2023 Salzburg, Austria | (aged 78)
Alma mater | Università per Stranieri di Perugia |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1964–2019 |
Spouse |
Francesca Guidato
(m. 1994; sep. 2010) |
Partner | Luchino Visconti (1964–1976) |
Helmut Berger (German pronunciation:
He is most famous for his work with
Early life and education
Berger was born in Bad Ischl, Austria, into a family of hoteliers. After receiving his Matura, Berger trained and worked in this field, though he had no interest in gastronomy or the hospitality industry. At age eighteen, he moved to London where he did odd jobs while taking acting classes.[2] After studying languages at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia in Italy,[3] Berger moved to Rome.
Career
1964 to 1976
He met the film director
He then played leading roles in such international productions as Ash Wednesday (1973) alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Henry Fonda and The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) alongside Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson. He also appeared in Tinto Brass's controversial film Salon Kitty with Ingrid Thulin in 1976. Well-known photographers including Helmut Newton, Mary Ellen Mark, and David Bailey published a series of pictures of him. Andy Warhol made Polaroids of him and produced serigraphs. Berger was also, in 1970, alongside his girlfriend Marisa Berenson, the first man photographed for the cover of Vogue.[4]
1976 to 1999
The death of Luchino Visconti in 1976 plunged him into a personal crisis. Exactly one year after Visconti died, Berger tried to commit suicide but was found in time to be saved.
In 1990, Berger appeared in
In 1997,
2000s to 2023
From the early 2000s to 2009, Berger largely withdrew from the acting world, moving to Salzburg to care for his mother, who died in 2009.[7][8] He then returned to acting in bigger production films.
In 2012, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag published Helmut Berger – A Life in Pictures, a coffee table book about his life, featuring many previously unreleased photographs plus essays in German, English, Italian, and French. The book was well received by the reviewers.[9]
In the
In 2015, Austrian filmmaker Andreas Horvath released a feature-length documentary about Berger called Helmut Berger, Actor. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival. In the magazine Artforum, American film director John Waters chose Helmut Berger, Actor as the 'Best Motion Picture of the year 2015'.[11] Berger later filed a lawsuit against Horvath.
On 22 February 2018, the premiere of Albert Serra's play, Liberté, starring Berger and Ingrid Caven was performed at the Volksbühne theatre in Berlin. It was the first stage role in Berger's career.[12][13][14] In 2019, another documentary film Helmut Berger, meine Mutter und ich was released, dealing with his personality and an attempted comeback.[15]
After suffering several bouts of pneumonia, Berger announced his retirement from acting in November 2019 and stated that he wanted to spend his remaining years away from the public eye.[16]
Personal life
Berger was openly
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Berger was seen as the "
From the 1980s on, Berger's private life was also in the news for his struggles with alcohol and drugs, which sometimes resulted in eccentric and controversial television appearances.[20][21][22] In 2013, Berger appeared on Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, the German version of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He had to leave for health reasons after only two days.[23]
Death
Berger died on 18 May 2023, at the age of 78.[24]
Awards and honours
In 1969, Berger was nominated for a
In 2007, he received a special Teddy Award at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival (2007) for his overall professional achievements.[25]
In 2010, Berger received two Prix Lumières at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon and also the "golden key" of the city.
In 2011, he received a Kristián Award, awarded at the Czech film festival Febiofest "for Contributions to World Cinema".[26]
Reception
Except for Helmut Berger, there are no interesting women today.
— Billy Wilder, referring to Berger's drag performance as Marlene Dietrich's The Blue Angel in The Damned (1969), [27]
Helmut Berger is what I consider a perfect artist – very serious in his craft, intelligent in his thoughts, without any time or patience for "bullshit" or empty phrases that litter many people's everyday lives, conversations and relationships.
I think it's androgyny, whether it's
Madonna, interviewed by Vince Aletti in 1999.[29]
I think he's wonderful. A man who says what he thinks.
He's one of those who leave nobody indifferent.
—Spiegel TV, report about Helmut Berger 1997.[31]
Filmography
(director in parentheses; all films except as noted)
- 1967: Le streghe (The Witches) (Luchino Visconti) as Young man at Hotel (segment "La Strega Bruciata Viva")
- 1968: The Young Tigers (Antonio Leonviola) as Dario
- 1969: Sai cosa faceva Stalin alle donne? (Maurizio Liverani) as Aldo
- 1969: The Damned (Luchino Visconti) as Martin Von Essenbeck
- 1970: Dorian Gray (Massimo Dallamano) as Dorian Gray
- 1970: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Vittorio De Sica) as Alberto
- 1971: Un beau monstre (Sergio Gobbi) as Alain Revent
- 1971: The Bloodstained Butterfly (Duccio Tessari) as Giorgio
- 1972: La colonna infame (Nelo Risi) as Arconati
- 1973: Merry-Go-Round (Otto Schenk) as Der Junge Herr / The Youngman / Alfred
- 1973: Les Voraces (Sergio Gobbi) as Kosta
- 1973: Ludwig (Luchino Visconti) as Ludwig
- 1973: Ash Wednesday (Larry Peerce) as Erich
- 1974: Conversation Piece (Luchino Visconti) as Konrad Huebel
- 1975: Order to Kill (José G. Maesso) as Clyde Hart
- 1975: The Romantic Englishwoman (Joseph Losey) as Thomas
- 1976: Salon Kitty (Tinto Brass) as Helmut Wallenberg
- 1976: Victory at Entebbe (Marvin Chomsky) as Wilfried Böse
- 1977: Beast with a Gun (Sergio Grieco) as Nanni Vitali
- 1977: Paperback
- 1978: The Greatest Battle (Umberto Lenzi) as Lt. Kurt Zimmer
- 1978: The Fifth Commandment (Duccio Tessari) as Bernhard Redder
- 1979: Le rose di Danzica (Alberto Bevilacqua) as Baron Erich von Lehner
- 1980: Fantômas (Claude Chabrol, Juan Luis Buñuel) (TV miniseries) as Fantômas / Nanteuil / Gurn / Valgrand
- 1980: Eroina (Massimo Pirri) as Marco
- 1981: Mia moglie è una strega (Castellano & Pipolo) as Asmodeo
- 1982: Deadly Game (Károly Makk) as Boris
- 1983: Femmes (Tana Kaleya) as Helmut
- 1983: Veliki Transport(V. Bulajic) as Colonel Glassendorf
- 1982: Victoria! La gran aventura de un poble (Antoni Ribas) as Tinent Rodríguez Haro
- 1983: Victoria! 2: El frenesì del 17 (Antoni Ribas) as Tinent Rodríguez Haro
- 1983–1984: Peter De Vilbis
- 1984: Victoria! 3: La razon y el arrebato (Antoni Ribas) as Tinent Rodríguez Haro
- 1985: Code Name: Emerald (Jonathan Sanger) as Ernst Ritter
- 1988: Jess Franco) as Docteur Flamand
- 1988: Act of Revenge (Salvatore Nocita)
- 1989: La Puritana (Nini Grassia) as Carlo Martora-Doctor
- 1990: The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola) as Frederick Keinszig
- 1992: Adelaide (Lucio Gaudino) as Gilas
- 1993: Boomtown (Christoph Schrewe) as Richard Schwarzer
- 1993: Ludwig 1881 (F. Dubini / D. Dubini) as King Ludwig II
- 1995: L'affaire Dreyfuss (Yves Boisset) as Schwartzkoppen
- 1996: L'ombra del faraone (S. Ben Barka)
- 1996: Teo (Cinzia TH Torrini) as Signor Mastrovito
- 1997: The 120 Days of Bottrop (Christoph Schlingensief) as Himself
- 1997: Last Cut (Marcello Avallone)
- 1999: Under the Palms (M. Kruishoop) as David
- 2004: Honey Baby (Mika Kaurismäki) as Karl / Hades
- 2005: Damals warst du still (R. Matsutani) as Fabian Plessen
- 2009: Zapping Alien (V. Zeplichal) as Jack / 00Y / Georg II
- 2009: Blutsfreundschaft (Peter Kern) as Gustav Tritzinsky
- 2009: Iron Cross (Joshua Newton) as Shrager / Vogler
- 2011: Mörderschwestern (Peter Kern) as Dr. Schleier
- 2013: The Devil's Violinist (Bernard Rose) as Lord Burghersh
- 2014: Saint Laurent (Bertrand Bonello) as Yves Saint Laurent en 1989
- 2015: Helmut Berger, Actor (Andreas Horvath), documentary film as himself
- 2016: Timeless (Alexander Tuschinski) as Professor Martin
- 2019: Helmut Berger, meine Mutter und ich (Valesca Peters), documentary film as himself
- 2019: Freedom (Albert Serra) as Baron von Walchern
See also
Bibliography
- Coriando, Paola-Ludovika (March 2006). "La poesia del volto: ritratto di Helmut Berger attore viscontiano". Cineforum, Issue #452.
- Berger, Helmut, with Heuer, Holde: Ich, Die Autobiographie. Ullstein, Berlin 1998, ISBN 978-3-550-06969-7.
- Coriando, Paola-Ludovika: Helmut Berger – Ein Leben in Bildern. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf,ISBN 978-3-89602-872-3.
- Berger, Helmut, with Heuer, Holde: Helmut Berger, autoportrait. Seguier, 2015, ISBN 978-2-84049-691-5
References
- ^ a b "Doku "Helmut Berger, meine Mutter und ich" | rbbKultur". www.rbb-online.de. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Who is Who: Official Website - Biography about Berger (in German)". Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- ^ "ARD - Mediathek: TV show with Helmut Berger, with biographical information about him studying at University of Perugia". Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- ^ "5 favorites: iconic vintage magazine covers". michellephan.com. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^ "Spiegel TV official website: Interview with Helmut Berger from 1997". Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ "Corriere delle Serra: Article about Madonna's book (in Italian)". Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ^ "Who Is Who.de - Article from the time when Berger moved to his mother". Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- ^ "Welt.de - article about Berger". Retrieved 23 August 2015.
- Zeit.de, 23 August 2015
- ^ "Frankfurter Rundschau: Article about Berger in Cannes (in German)". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ John Waters: Best of 2015: Film https://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201510&id=56221
- ^ "Liberté - Programme - Volksbühne Berlin". www.volksbuehne.berlin.
- ^ SPIEGEL, Wolfgang Höbel, DER (23 February 2018). ""Liberté" an der Volksbühne: Sommernachtssex im dunklen Wald - DER SPIEGEL - Kultur". Der Spiegel.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Cronk, Jordan (8 March 2018). "Filmmaker Albert Serra's Operatic Stage Debut".
- ^ "Vom Jetsetter zum Pflegefall". Der Tagesspiegel Online. 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Helmut Berger beendet Karriere mit 75 Jahren". www.t-online.de. 26 November 2019.
- ^ a b "Helmut Berger: "Ich habe alles erlebt"". GALA. 6 November 2012.
- ^ "Das merkwürdige Phänomen Helmut Berger". Die Welt. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ^ Bosé, M. (2021). El hijo del Capitán Trueno [Captain Trueno's Son]. Barcelona/Mexico: Planeta. pp. 371-394. ISBN 978-84-670-6424-7 ISBN 978-607-07-8069-1
- ^ "Helmut Berger genießt sein Leben ohne Alkohol". Die Welt. 12 March 2018 – via www.welt.de.
- ^ "Helmut Berger bepöbelt Gäste in Lanz-Talkshow". www.t-online.de. November 2012.
- ^ "Skandal-Auftritt: Helmut Berger total betrunken bei Gottschalk". Die Welt. 3 April 2010 – via www.welt.de.
- ^ SPIEGEL, Peter Hell, DER (13 January 2013). "Dschungelcamp: Helmut Berger - Aufstieg und Fall eines Weltstars - DER SPIEGEL - Kultur". Der Spiegel.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Schauspiellegende Helmut Berger ist tot" (in German). 18 May 2023.
- ^ Schupp, Karin (17 February 2007). "Teddy Today". Teddy Award. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ Staff writer (30 March 2011). "Festival Diary: Wednesday 30th" Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Febiofest. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ "So kaputt ist der ehemalige Weltstar". Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "Alexander Tuschinski – Article about filming Helmut Berger from August 2015" (PDF). Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ Aletti, Vince (12 December 1999). "Ray of light: Madonna and her love affair with the lens". The Guardian.
- ^ "Abendzeitung München: Article about Nene's new music video, featuring the quote. Original quote in German: "Ich finde ihn herrlich. Der Mann sagt, was er denkt"". Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ "Spiegel TV official website. Original quote in German: "Er gehört zu denen die niemanden gleichgültig lassen."". Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ "HELMUT BERGER: EIN LEBEN IN BILDERN. HANDSIGNIERT VON HELMUT BERGER - Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf".
External links
- Helmut Berger at IMDb
- Article by Alexander Tuschinski about filming with Helmut Berger in 2015. (PDF; 1 MB)
- Helmut Berger discography at Discogs