Romy Schneider Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Profession Actress
Birth name Rosemarie Magdalena Albach-Retty
Austrian nationality
Birth September 23, 1938 (Vienna – Austria)
Death May 29, 1982

BIOGRAPHY
Daughter of actress Magda Schneider and Wolf Albach Retty.

During the war, when the Nazis arrived, the Schneider family had to leave Vienna and the childhood of young Romy, whose real name was Rosemarie Magdalena Albach-Retty, took place in a small village near Berchtesgaden. Following the birth of their second child Wolfgang, Romy’s parents separate. After studying at the Goldenstein Boarding School, near Salzburg, Romy Schneider enrolled in 1953 at the Cologne School of Fine Arts. At that time, producer Kurt Ulrich was looking for a young girl to play the role of his mother Magda Schneider ‘s daughter , in White Lilas . Magda then suggests Romy who brilliantly passes the tests and thus obtains her first appearance on the screen at 15 years old. The film was an immediate success but it was with the series Sissi , where she played Empress Elisabeth of Austria, alongside Karl-Heinz Böhm , in the role of the young Emperor Franz Joseph, that Romy Schneider became famous .

1958 was an important year in the life of the actress: Pierre Gaspard-Huit offered her the lead role of Christine , a remake of Max Ophüls ‘ Liebelei . During filming, she fell in love with her partner in the film, Alain Delon . Romy Schneider got engaged to him in 1959, and the couple left to live in Paris where five years of passion followed. Her image as a young ingénue followed her throughout this period and it was her decisive meeting with Luchino Visconti which allowed her to change register. The latter offered him a role in his theater production of John Ford ‘s drama , Pity she’s a whore (1961), alongside Alain Delon . Romy’s career subsequently took on an international dimension with several roles in Hollywood ( Lend Me Your Husband (1964), a comedy with Jack Lemmon , and the film What’s New, Pussycat? alongside Woody Allen in 1965). Her performance under the direction of Orson Welles in The Trial in 1963 finally gave her the image of a beautiful and free woman. If his career is developing positively, his private life is experiencing a lot of turbulence. In 1966, she married Harry Meyen, a theater director who gave her her first child David-Christopher and who committed suicide some time later. The same year, she met, on the set of La Voleuse ,

Michel Piccoli who would become one of his closest friends.

Five years after their breakup, Alain Delon cast her alongside him in La Piscine by Jacques Deray . A role where she appears radiant and superb. For Luchino Visconti in Ludwig… or the Twilight of the Gods , she agrees to take on the role that revealed her to the general public, that of Elisabeth of Austria, older this time. His meeting with Claude Sautet was decisive. He made her his muse through two films César et Rosalie and Les Choses de la vie . The latter enjoyed great critical and public success which placed the actress at the peak of her popularity. Two years later, it was under the direction of Andrzej Zulawski that she won the first César for Best Actress for L’Important c’est d’aimer . A reward that she will receive again for the Simple History of her mentor, Claude Sautet .

Despite her breakup with Daniel Biasini , her second husband, and the tragic death of her son, Romy began filming La Passante du Sans-Souci at the end of October 81 . When it was released in April 1982, the film was a triumph, but barely a month later Romy Schneider was found dead in her home. She died of a heart attack, the causes of which remain unknown.