Sad news for the world of the seventh art: while the Cannes Film Festival is in full swing, Helmut Berger, star of Austrian cinema, passed away peacefully this Thursday, May 18 at the age of 78, in Salzburg, in his country of origin. On May 29, he would have celebrated his 79th birthday… It was his agent Helmut Werner, who announced his disappearance in a statement sent to AFP: “It’s with great sadness that as the agent of legendary actor Helmut Berger, I inform you of his passing.” He would have breathed his last around 4 a.m. Helmut Steinberger, real name, was one of the figures of the big screen in the 1970s, best known for her great beauty and sulphurous roles.
Helmut Berger was best known for portraying Martin von Essenbeck in the film The Damned in 1969. The film is produced by the italian director Luchino Viscontiwho happens to be his companion since 1964. When they meet, Helmut Berger is 20 years old and Visconti 52. “With him, I have known true love. We moved under the same roof four months later. He educated me and introduced me to a host of famous people like Grace KellyDali, La Callas… Our story lasted 12 years“, he confided in the pages of Gala in March 2015.
The Austrian star had also made an impression on Louis of Bavaria next to Romy Schneiderwho played Sissi, In Ludwig, the twilight of the gods in 1973. Accustomed to aristocratic characters, he shot under the direction of Vittoria de Sica in The garden of the Finzi Contini in 1970 and under that of Massimo Dallamano in Le Dépravé, in very convincing Dorian Grey. After the death of his illustrious partner in 1976, his career slowed down. “I was his widow at 32”, he confides, bruised, years later in the magazine She. He made a few notable appearances in The Godfather 3 in 1990 and In Saint Laurent of Bertrand Bonello in 2014, in the role of the elderly fashion designer, with Gaspard Ulliel.
Between drugs and scandals, Helmut Berger hit the headlines
Where Helmut Berger is most in the news is in the pages of people magazines. Drugs, suicide attempts, scandals, sulphurous liaisons… the former fop becomes a shadow of himself. His setbacks, he recounts them in his autobiography, released in 1998, entitled Me. The book is full of anecdotes, with evocative chapter titles: In the same bed as Mick and Bianca Jagger or I served Fellini.
For the reissue of his book, he had mentioned in our columns his estrangement with Alain Delon, he who was wary of his closeness to Visconti: “Luchino never mentioned Delon with me, despite my questions. I’ll never know what happened between them.” Despite his many adventures, the actor will never have found a love like the one he experienced with the Italian director… According to the latest news, Helmut Berger had settled down alone in his mother’s house in Salzburg. “My apartment burned down. I have nothing left, I have lost everything. But it is okay”he told She.
Photo credits: API / BESTIMAGE
