Helmut Berger, a true icon of European cinema of the '60s and '70s, and architect of the breaking of sexual taboos of that time, died this Thursday, May 18 in Salzburg a few days before his 79th birthday. The Austrian was discovered as an actor by the legendary Italian director Luchino Visconti, of whom he was a lover for years.
Helmut Berger's life was marked by great successes in cinema, followed by scandals and depressions, especially after the death of Luchino Visconti in 1976.
Born into a wealthy family of hoteliers in Austria's Salzburg region, Berger learned English, French and Italian during study stays in Paris, Geneva, London and Italy.
Helmut Berger, posing with his autobiographical book. AP Photo/ Hans Edinger
Your relationship with Visconti
In 1964, at the age of 20, he met Visconti, who was 38 years older than the then young Berger, who dreamed of becoming an actor.
Actor of great beauty and temperament, he made a lightning career and interpreted films considered anthology, especially with Visconti.
His first major success was in The Fall of the Gods (1969), directed by his mentor Visconti, for which Berger was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Successes followed in films such as The Picture of Dorian Gray (1970), The Garden of the Finzi-Contini (1970) or Ludwig (1972).
In Ash Wednesday (1973) Berger appeared on the big screen alongside Hollywood myths such as Elizabeth Taylor and Henry Fonda.
Luchino Visconti, Romy Schneider and Helmut Berger, filming "Ludwig" in 1972. AP Photo
The most attractive man in the world
At the time, Vogue magazine claimed that Helmut Berger was the most attractive man in the world.
The actor personified the breaking of sexual taboos in European cinema and became especially known for his portrayals of narcissistic and bisexual characters.
In his autobiography, published in 1998, the actor claims to have had sex with dozens of celebrities of the time, such as Rudolf Nureyev, Britt Ekland, Ursula Andress, Nathalie Delon, Linda Blair, Jerry Hall, Bianca and Mick Jagger.
After the death of Visconti, who was not only his mentor and lover but a kind of "surrogate father", the actor fell into a deep crisis, with a suicide attempt, excessive alcohol and a decadent lifestyle.
Berger, who always defined herself as bisexual, went so far as to say that after Visconti she could never fall in love again.
Helmut Berger, in "The Picture of Dorian Gray", another of his film successes.
At that time he barely appeared on the big screens, although he participated in nine episodes of the famous American television series Dynasty.
In 1990 he starred in the third installment of The Godfather, playing the role of a corrupt banker.
Marriage and estrangement from the cinema
A few years later, in 1994, he married Italian actress Francesca Guidato, a marriage that lasted about 15 years.
From the year 2000, the actor moved away from cinema and television to take care of his elderly mother in Salzburg, who died in 2009.
Gay icon, the actor has twice received (2008 and 2010) the Teddy Award of the German homosexual collective.
After the death of his mother, Berger reappeared in public life, for example in 2013 when he was a candidate in a televised survival contest in the Australian jungle.
In 2018, at the age of 74, he made his debut in the theater, when he performed at the Volksbühne in Berlin in a play where he played a baron.
Helmut Berger, in a theatrical performance of Don Juan". AP Photo
A year later, he announced that due to his delicate state of health, after suffering several pneumonias, he was ending his acting career.
His agent, Helmut Werner told the local press today that Helmut Berger "lived to the end happy, satisfied and in good spirits in Salzburg."
And he concluded with a quote from the now deceased: "I lived three lives. And that's in four languages. I don't regret anything!"
Source: EFE
WD
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