- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHelmut Steinberger
- Nicknames
- Heli
- The Most Beautiful Man in the World
- Height1.84 m
- Helmut Berger - Austrian born film actor, mostly known for starring in Luchino Visconti's films, which are now considered modern classics. Born Helmut Steinberger in Salzburg in 1944, he turned down a prospect of running a family hotel business and went to London where he worked as waiter to pay his way through drama school. Later he attended the University of Perugia in Italy and spent some time in France. His acting career began with French and Italian commercials and showed no signs of progress until he was picked up by Luchino Visconti out of pool of "extras" during the shooting of Sandra (1965) in 1964. Berger's relationships with Visconti, whose partner he remained for 12 years, brought him to the attention of press and allowed him to act in some Visconti's films such as Les Damnés (1969), Ludwig ou le crépuscule des dieux (1973) and Violence et Passion (1974). Visconti is said to view Berger as the very image of his idea of a "demonic, insane and sexually perverted" man. As a matter of fact Berger often portrayed anguished souls and sinister villains. His acting career continued throughout the 1970s but was temporarily broken up in the early 80s when he battled alcohol problem. He appeared in numerous French, Italian, German films and spent one season on American soap Dynastie (1981) but few directors used his gifts with the same skill as Visconti. His autobiography "Ich" (Me), in which he famously referred to his relationships with Visconti as "marriage" and claimed to be the director's widow, appeared in 1998. Berger is still very active appearing in TV series regularly. He also very modestly attributed his acting achievements to Visconti's directing.- IMDb mini biography by: Mike (petrovaz@mail.ru)
- SpousesFlorian Wess(July 2015 - September 2015) (separated)Francesca Guidato(November 19, 1994 - May 18, 2023) (his death)
- ParentsHedwig SteinbergerFranz Steinberger
- Longtime companion of Luchino Visconti from 1964 until the director's death in 1976.
- Tried to commit suicide by an overdose of sleeping pills on 14 March 1977.
- Is mentioned on Jackie Brown (1997).
- He said that after the filming of Ludwig he committed himself to a sanatorium in order to rid himself of Ludwig's character who had taken over his real-life persona.
- [on working with Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson on Une Anglaise romantique (1975)] I admire Michael Caine in this film and have great respect for Glenda Jackson. She is of a different generation to mine and a different theatrical background. She can be like a bird. I have to run after her. She is so exciting, she gives so much.
- Yes I am tainted by the beautiful things in life. But to all those who only want to see my as an agent provocateur and an eccentric I can only say: With every day of my life the number of people I don't give a damn about grows and grows.
- I don't afraid of death. People are afraid of death, but they don't know what it is. Death is as much a part of us as the dark side of the moon. Perhaps death is nothing more than falling asleep and dreaming forever. Maybe it's just a tiny step from here to another dimension. I don't know if I should call it immortality, because the word is so big. But I do believe that something of us remains when we died. It makes no sense to make too much a distinction between the life and death.
- I have lived three lives. And in four languages! Je ne regrette rien!
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