# Marthe Keller

Marthe Keller (born 28 January 1945) is a Swiss actress. She is perhaps best known for her role in the film Marathon Man (1976), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

## Career
### Early years

Keller studied ballet as a child, but stopped after a skiing accident at age 16. She changed to acting, and worked in Berlin at the Schiller Theater and the Berliner Ensemble.

### Film work

Keller's earliest film appearances were in Funeral in Berlin (1966, in which she was not credited) and the German film Wilder Reiter GmbH (1967). She appeared in a series of French films in the 1970s, including Un Cave (1971), La Raison du Plus Fou (1973) and Toute Une Vie/And Now My Love (1974). Her most famous American film appearances are her Golden Globe-nominated performance as Dustin Hoffman's girlfriend in Marathon Man (1976) and her performance as a femme fatale Palestinian terrorist who leads an attack on the Super Bowl in Black Sunday (1977). Keller acted alongside Al Pacino in the 1977 romantic drama film Bobby Deerfield, based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel Heaven Has No Favorites, and subsequently the two were involved in a relationship. She also acted alongside William Holden in Billy Wilder's 1978 romantic drama Fedora.
After 1978, Keller did more work in European cinema than in Hollywood. Her later films include Dark Eyes (1987), with Marcello Mastroianni.
In April 2016, she was announced as the president of the jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

### Theatre work

In 2001, Keller appeared in an all-star Broadway adaptation of Abby Mann's play Judgment at Nuremberg, directed by John Tillinger, as Mrs. Bertholt, in the role played by Marlene Dietrich in the 1961 Stanley Kramer film version. She was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress for this performance.

### Opera work

In addition to her work in film and theatre, Keller has developed a career in classical music as a speaker and opera director. She has performed the speaking role of Joan of Arc in Arthur Honegger's oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher on several occasions, with conductors such as Seiji Ozawa and Kurt Masur. She has recorded the role for Deutsche Grammophon with Ozawa (DG 429 412-2). Keller has also recited the spoken part in Igor Stravinsky's Perséphone. She has performed classical music melodramas for speaker and piano in recital. The Swiss composer Michael Jarrell wrote the melodrama Cassandre, after Christa Wolf's novel, for Keller, who performed in the world premiere in 1994.
Keller's first production as an opera director was Dialogues des Carmélites for Opéra national du Rhin in 1999. This production subsequently received a semi-staged performance in London that year. She has also directed Lucia di Lammermoor for Washington National Opera and for Los Angeles Opera. Her directorial debut at the Metropolitan Opera was in a 2004 production of Don Giovanni.

## Personal life

Keller has one son, Alexandre (born 1972), from her relationship with director Philippe de Broca. She also dated director Claude Lelouch and actor Al Pacino.

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Author | Director | Notes |
| 1970 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Peter Nichols | Michel Fagadau | Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse |
| 1979 | Three Sisters | Anton Chekhov | Lucian Pintilie | Théâtre de la Ville |
| 1982 | Emballage perdu | Vera Feyder | Nelly Borgeaud | Théâtre des Mathurins |
| 1983 | Exiles | James Joyce | Andreas Voutsinas | Théâtre Renaud-Barrault |
| 1983-86 | Jedermann | Hugo von Hofmannsthal | Ernst Haeussermann & Gernot Friedel | Salzburg Festival |
| 1984 | Betrayal | Harold Pinter | Sami Frey | Théâtre des Célestins |
| 1986 | Don Carlos | Friedrich Schiller | Michelle Marquais | Théâtre de la Ville |
| 1988 | Hamlet | William Shakespeare | Patrice Chéreau | Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers |
| 1997 | Kinkali | Arnaud Bedouet | Philippe Adrien | Théâtre national de la Colline |
| 2001 | Judgment at Nuremberg | Abby Mann | John Tillinger | Broadway theatre |
| 2008 | The Stronger | August Strindberg | Wadsworth | Arclight Theatre |
| 2011 | Jan Karski (mon nom est une fiction) | Yannick Haenel | Arthur Nauzyciel [fr; ru] | Festival d'Avignon |

## Films

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1965 | Antiquitäten | Young Lady | Marran Gosov [de] | Short |
| 1966 | Funeral in Berlin | Brigit | Guy Hamilton | |
| 1967 | Wilder Reiter GmbH [de] | The nun | Franz-Josef Spieker | Nominated – German Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role |
| 1967 | Pfeiffer | Marthe | Marran Gosov (2) | Short |
| 1969 | The Devil by the Tail | Amélie | Philippe de Broca | |
| 1970 | Les caprices de Marie | Marie Panneton | Philippe de Broca | |
| 1972 | The Old Maid | Vicka | Jean-Pierre Blanc | |
| 1972 | Un cave [fr] | Catherine | Gilles Grangier | |
| 1972 | P'pa je serai serrurier | The woman | Ulysse Laugier | Short |
| 1973 | Elle court, elle court la banlieue | Marlène Réval | Gérard Pirès | |
| 1973 | La raison du plus fou | The hitchhiker | François Reichenbach | |
| 1973 | La chute d'un corps | Marthe Renon | Michel Polac | |
| 1974 | And Now My Love | Sarah & Rachel Stern | Claude Lelouch | |
| 1974 | Only the Wind Knows the Answer | Angela Delpierre | Alfred Vohrer | |
| 1975 | Down the Ancient Staircase | Bianca | Mauro Bolognini | |
| 1976 | Marathon Man | Elsa Opel | John Schlesinger | Bambi Award for Best Actress – National Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
| 1976 | Le guêpier | Melba | Roger Pigaut | |
| 1977 | Black Sunday | Dahlia Iyad | John Frankenheimer | |
| 1977 | Bobby Deerfield | Lillian | Sydney Pollack | |
| 1978 | Fedora | Fedora / Antonia | Billy Wilder | |
| 1980 | The Formula | Lisa Spangler | John G. Avildsen | |
| 1981 | The Amateur | Elisabeth | Charles Jarrott | Nominated – Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress |
| 1983 | Der Platzanweiser | | Peter Gehrig | |
| 1984 | Femmes de personne | Cecile | Christopher Frank | |
| 1985 | Red Kiss | Bronka | Véra Belmont | |
| 1985 | Joan Lui | Judy Johnson | Adriano Celentano | |
| 1987 | Dark Eyes | Tina | Nikita Mikhalkov | Nominated – David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1989 | Seven Minutes [de] | Mrs. Wagner | Klaus Maria Brandauer | |
| 1991 | Lapse of Memory | Linda Farmer | Patrick Dewolf | |
| 1994 | My Friend Max | Catherine Mercier | Michel Brault | |
| 1995 | Sostiene Pereira | Mrs. Delgado | Roberto Faenza | |
| 1997 | Women | Barbara | Luís Galvão Teles | |
| 1997 | K | Nora Winter | Alexandre Arcady | |
| 1997 | Nuits blanches | Julia | Sophie Deflandre | |
| 1998 | The School of Flesh | Madame Thorpe | Benoît Jacquot | |
| 1999 | Le derrière | Christina | Valérie Lemercier | |
| 2002 | Time of the Wolf | Rebecca McGregor | Rod Pridy | |
| 2004 | Nightsongs [de] | Mother | Romuald Karmakar | |
| 2005 | Fragile | Emma | Laurent Nègre | Swiss Film Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role |
| 2007 | Chrysalis | Professor Brügen | Julien Leclercq | |
| 2007 | UV | The mother | Gilles Paquet-Brenner | |
| 2008 | Cortex | Carole Rothmann | Nicolas Boukhrief | |
| 2008 | Bouquet final | Nickye | Michel Delgado | |
| 2010 | Hereafter | Dr. Rousseau | Clint Eastwood | |
| 2011 | The Giants | Rosa | Bouli Lanners | |
| 2011 | My Best Enemy | Hannah Kaufmann | Wolfgang Murnberger | |
| 2012 | In a Rush | Mina | Louis-Do de Lencquesaing | |
| 2013 | The Mark of the Angels – Miserere | Laura Bernheim | Sylvain White | |
| 2014 | Homo Faber (Trois Femmes) | Hanna | Richard Dindo | |
| 2015 | Amnesia | Martha Sagell | Barbet Schroeder | |
| 2016 | After Love | Christine | Joachim Lafosse | |
| 2017 | The Witness | Judge D'Amici | Mitko Panov | |
| 2017 | The Escape | Anna | Dominic Savage | |
| 2019 | The Staggering Girl | Sofia | Luca Guadagnino | Short film |
| 2023 | Mars Express | Beryl (voice) | Jérémie Périn | |

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1964 | The Trojan War Will Not Take Place | The Peace | Franz Josef Wild [de] | TV Film |
| 1964 | His and Hers | Jean | Franz Josef Wild [de] | TV Film |
| 1965 | Und nicht mehr Jessica | Jessica Lovell | Falk Harnack | TV Film |
| 1965 | Mariana Pineda | | Wilm ten Haaf | TV Film |
| 1966 | Kein Freibrief für Mord | Christine Foster | Karlheinz Bieber | TV Film |
| 1966 | Corinne und der Seebär | Corinne | Thomas Engel | TV Film |
| 1971 | Arsène Lupin | Countess Natasha | Jean-Pierre Decourt | 3 episodes |
| 1972 | La demoiselle d'Avignon | Koba Lye-Lye | Michel Wyn | 6 episodes |
| 1975 | L'aigle à deux têtes | The Queen | Pierre Cavassilas | TV Film |
| 1982 | La certosa di Parma | Gina Sanseverina | Mauro Bolognini (2) | Mini-series |
| 1983 | Jedermann | Buhlschaft | C. Rainer Ecke | TV Film |
| 1983 | Wagner | Mathilde Wesendonck | Tony Palmer | TV miniseries |
| 1986 | Die Frau des Reporters | Esther | Heide Pils | TV Film |
| 1987 | The Hospice | | Dominique Othenin-Girard | TV Film |
| 1988 | Una vittoria | Julie | Luigi Perelli | TV Film |
| 1988 | Sueurs froides | Diane | Régis Wargnier | Episode: "Louis-Charles, mon-amour" |
| 1988 | La ruelle au clair de lune | Nelly | Édouard Molinaro | TV Film |
| 1989 | The Nightmare Years | Tess Shirer | Anthony Page | Mini-series |
| 1991 | Young Catherine | Princess Johanna | Michael Anderson | TV Film |
| 1992 | Im Kreis der Iris | Marikka | Peter Patzak | TV Film |
| 1992 | Turbulences | Hélène | Élisabeth Rappeneau | TV Film |
| 1992 | À deux pas du paradis | Eva Grundberg | Michel Vianey | TV Film |
| 1993 | Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher | Joan of Arc | Akio Jissoji | TV Film |
| 1993 | Liberate mio figlio | Elena | Roberto Malenotti | TV Film |
| 1995 | Tödliches Geld | Beatrice Belmont | Detlef Rönfeldt | TV Film |
| 1995 | Belle Époque | Antoinette | Gavin Millar | Mini-Series |
| 2001 | Tout va bien c'est Noël! | Jacqueline Bréaud | Laurent Dussaux | TV Film |
| 2003 | Par amour | Nicole Doucet | Alain Tasma | TV film Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual – Best Actress Luchon International Film Festival – Best Actress |
| 2004 | La nourrice | Madame Dumayet-Ponti | Renaud Bertrand | TV Film |
| 2007 | Dans l'ombre du maître | Maria | David Delrieux | TV Film |
| 2007 | Le lien | Eva | Denis Malleval | TV Film |
| 2007 | La prophétie d'Avignon | Dona Flores | David Delrieux (2) | Mini-series |
| 2008 | Le sanglot des anges | Eléonore | Jacques Otmezguine | Mini-series |
| 2009 | Sous un autre jour | Iréne | Alain Tasma (2) | |
| 2011 | La résidence | Léa | Laurent Jaoui | TV Film |
| 2011 | Page Eight | Leona Chew | David Hare | TV film Nominated – Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries |
| 2014 | La vie à l'envers | Nina | Anne Giafferi | TV Film |
| 2017 | Sources Vives | Irène Meyer | Bruno Bontzolakis | TV Film |
| 2018 | Dévoilées | Isabelle | Jacob Berger | TV Film |
| 2018 | The Romanoffs | Anushka | Matthew Weiner | Episode: "The Violet Hour" |
| 2019 | Marie Antoinette | Maria Theresa | Pete Travis | TV series |