Romy Schneider

Romy Schneider (September 23, 1938 - May 29, 1982) was an Austrian actress. She was from Vienna. She had German and French citizenship. She had an international career, but worked mostly in France.

Life and career

She was born Rosemarie Albach-Retty in Vienna, Austria. Her parents were Wolf Albach-Retty (1906-1967) and Magda Schneider (1909-1996), both famous actors in Austria and Germany. 

After her parents divorced in 1945, she was raised by her mother. With her mother's help, and using her mother's family name, she started acting in 1953. She quickly became very popular through Ernst Marischka's trilogy called Sissi, about the early life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

In 1958, she appeared in the movie Christine, opposite French actor Alain Delon. They became engaged and she moved to France with him.

Schneider worked with directors such as Luchino Visconti in Boccacio (1961), Orson Welles in The Trial (1962), and Otto Preminger in The Cardinal (1963).

After her breakup with Delon in 1964, she went back to Germany. There she married stage director Harry Meyen. They had a son named David (1966-1981). 

She acted with Delon again in the movie La piscine in 1969. The rest of her career was mostly in France. Notable movies included; Les choses de la vie (1970), Max et les ferrailleurs (1971), Le trio infernal (1974), Le vieux fusil (1975), La banquière (1980), La passante du Sans-Souci (1981). 

Her later years were plagued by personal tragedies. She gave birth to a stillborn child in 1976 by her second husband Daniel Biasini. Her first husband Harry Meyen killed himself in 1979. Her son David accidentally died impaled while trying to go over a fence in 1981. That same year she had a kidney operation.  

She was found dead in her Paris apartment at the age of 43, probably from a heart attack, although no autopsy was performed. She left a daughter Sarah Biasini (born 1977, by her second husband), who is an actress.

Reference


Category:1938 births
Category:1982 deaths
Category:Actors from Vienna
Category:French movie actors
Category:French stage actors
Category:French television actors
Category:German movie actors
Category:German stage actors
Category:German television actors