Senta Berger in The Waltz King (1963) Spanish postcard by Toro de Bronce. Senta Berger in The Waltz King (Steve Previn, 1963).
Beautiful Austrian actress Senta Berger (1941) received many awards for her work in theatre, film, and television, including a Golden Globe Award and a Goldene Kamera. She played in many European co-productions as well as a sex bomb in some Hollywood movies of the 1960s. Later, Berger worked as a producer of internationally acclaimed films and as a bestselling author.
Senta Berger was born in Vienna, Austria in 1941 as the daughter of Therese Jany, a teacher, and Josef Berger, a musician. She first appeared on stage at age four, where her father accompanied his daughter's singing on the piano. At age five, she started ballet lessons, but Senta was asked to leave at 14 because she had ‘developed’ too much. She then took private acting lessons and appeared as an extra in the comedy Du bist die Richtige/You Are The Right One (Erich Engel, Josef von Báky, 1955) starring Curd Jürgens. In 1957, she won her first small role in Die unentschuldigte Stunde/The Unexcused Hour (1957), one of the last films directed by legendary actor-director Willi Forst. She applied for the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a famous acting school in Vienna. Still, she was expelled shortly afterwards after accepting a small role in the film The Journey/Die Reise (Anatole Litvak, 1959) without permission. Only 17, she became the youngest member of the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna in 1958 and played a role in Luigi Pirandello’s Enrico IV. Film producer Arthur Brauner offered her a role opposite German superstar Heinz Rühmann in the deft satire Der brave Soldat Schweijk/The Good Soldier Schweijk (Axel von Ambesser, 1960). Brauner signed a contract for several films and cast her in Schlagerfilms like O sole mio (Paul Martin, 1960) and Adieu, Lebewohl, Goodbye (1961). She soon got tired of them, but Maria Brauner, the producer’s wife, helped her to get a part next to O.W. Fischer and Eva Bartok in the thrillers Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein/Operation Caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961) and Diesmal muß es Kaviar sein/This time it has to be caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961). These spy thrillers, based on the novels by Johannes Mario Simmel, meant her breakthrough. Berger became a staple in European co-productions like Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes/Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (Terence Fisher, Frank Winterstein, 1962) starring Christopher Lee, and Kali-Yug, la Dea della Vendetta/Vengeance of Kali (Mario Camerini, 1963) with Lex Barker. On the invitation of Richard Widmark, with whom she had appeared in the Cold War adventure film The Secret Ways (Phil Karlson, 1961), she went to Hollywood. There she appeared in the anti-war drama The Victors (Carl Foreman, 1963) and The Waltz King (Steve Previn, 1963), a two-parter in the TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Though an actress of more than average talent, Berger was regarded as just another European sex bomb by most Hollywood publicity flacks. She was offered a five-year contract by a major Hollywood studio, but she decided to return to Germany.
During the shooting of the comedy Jacky und Jenny/Jacky and Jenny (Victor Vicas, 1964), Senta Berger met Michael Verhoeven, son of the German film director Paul Verhoeven (not the Dutch Paul Verhoeven). They started their own film production company Sentana-Filmproduktion in 1965 and married the following year. Berger continued to develop her international career and played with such stars as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Yul Brynner. She appeared in numerous Euro-spy films such as the Italian crime comedy Operazione San Gennaro/Operation San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966), the British comedy Our Man in Marrakech (Don Sharp, 1966) with Tony Randall, and the French thriller Peau d’Espion/To Commit a Murder (Edouard Molinaro, 1967) with Louis Jourdan. One of her best-known Hollywood movies is the Western Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah, 1965) with Charlton Heston. On the Celluloid Heroes blog, Paul McElligott writes: “Major Dundee is one of Sam Peckinpah’s early works, a highly stylized Western that fits perfectly the outsized performances of its stars, Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. Neither the story, the dialogue or the acting can be called realistic, but it is what it claims to be, a rousing entertainment.” In Cast a Giant Shadow (Melville Shavelson, 1966) with Kirk Douglas, she played the role of Magda, a soldier in the Israeli army during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. That same year she was also a German schoolteacher involved in neo-Nazi activity opposite Max von Sydow and George Segal in the spy film The Quiller Memorandum (Michael Anderson, 1966). A Curio is the short film Vienna (1967) directed by Orson Welles. In the film Welles is wandering through Vienna, remembering The Third Man and then, aided by Berger and Mickey Rooney, he suddenly stumbles into a spy satire which is, according to the IMDb reviewer, “simply hilariously funny”. In 1967, Berger acted also in the pilot for the American television TV series It Takes a Thief (1968) starring Robert Wagner. She reprised her role in the series in 1969, in an episode in which her character was killed off.
In 1970 Senta Berger appeared in the Italian caveman spoof Quando le Donne Avevano la Coda/When Women Had Tails (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1970), which was a surprise box-office hit in Italy. Her participation in this banal sex-comedy leads Hal Erickson at AllMovie to the conclusion that “by 1970, Senta Berger gave up any hopes of being taken seriously.” That year though, she also starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband, Wer im Glashaus liebt/He Who Loves in a Glass House (Michael Verhoeven, 1970). Two years later she featured in Volker Schlöndorff’s Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass/Morals of Ruth Halbfass (Volker Schlöndorff, 1972) followed by the leading role in Der scharlachrote Buchstabe/The Scarlet Letter (Wim Wenders, 1973). And in Italy, she appeared in several films for high-quality directors such as Roma Bene (Carlo Lizzani, 1971), L'Amante dell'orsa maggiore/The Smugglers (Valentino Orsini, 1972), Bisturi: La Mafia Bianca/Hospitals: The White Mafia (Luigi Zampa, 1973) and the Giallo L'Uomo Senza Memoria/Puzzle (Duccio Tessari, 1974) opposite Luc Merenda. Following the birth of her two sons, Simon (1972) and Luca (1979), Berger returned to theatre work. She played at the famous Burgtheater in Vienna, at the Thaliatheater in Hamburg and at the Schillertheater in Berlin. Between 1974 and 1982, she played the Buhlschaft in the play Jedermann (Everyman) at the Salzburg Festival with Curd Jürgens and later Maximilian Schell in the title role. She also co-starred with Schell and James Coburn in the war film Cross of Iron (Sam Peckinpah, 1977).
In 1985, Senta Berger started a comeback in front of German-speaking TV audiences in the popular, ironic mini-series Kir Royal (Helmut Dietl,1985-1986), about a Munich gossip reporter and the city’s legendary high society circles. Further serial hits followed, like Die schnelle Gerdi/The Fast Gerti (Michael Verhoeven, 1989), where she played a Munich cab driver. In the same year, she also started a career as a singer of Chansons. Berger continued to work in Italy and appeared opposite Marcello Mastroianni in Le Due Vite di Mattia Pascal/The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal (Mario Monicelli, 1985), based on a Luigi Pirandello story. Berger and Verhoeven produced acclaimed and internationally successful films including Die weiße Rose/The White Rose (Michael Verhoeven, 1982) and Das schreckliche Mädchen/The Terrible Girl (Michael Verhoeven, 1990), both starring Lena Stolze. During the 1990s Berger was mostly seen as a smart, sexy and honest woman on TV. In 1991 she played an acclaimed role in the marriage drama Sie und Er/She and He (Frank Beyer, 1991). Series followed like Lilli Lottofee (Michael Verhoeven, 1992) and Ärzte/Doctors (1994-1996). Then she played parts in Sandra Nettelbeck‘s film debut Mammamia (1998), Bin ich schön?/Am I Beautiful (Doris Dörrie, 1998) and the TV film Trennungsfieber/Divorce Fever (Manfred Stelzer, 2000). Since February 2003, Berger has been president of the German Film Academy, which seeks to advance the new generation of actors and actresses in Germany and Europe. The Academy will decide the assignment of the German Film Awards in the future. 2005 saw her in the cinemas in Einmal so wie ich will/For Once As I Want It (Vivian Naefe, 2005) opposite Götz George, as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. She finds love on holiday but turns her back on the relationship. In the spring of 2006, Berger's autobiography was published in Germany: 'Ich habe ja gewußt, daß ich fliegen kann' (I Knew That I Could Fly). It became a bestseller. Among her memories of Hollywood are a less-than-subtle attempt by Darryl Zanuck to get her on his casting couch, and being called ‘You German pig’ on her first day on the set of Major Dundee by a gaffer whose wife had lost her family in Auschwitz. Senta Berger is still married to Michael Verhoeven and their sons Simon and Luca Verhoeven are both actors now. She lives in Grünwald near Munich, Germany. This century she worked on the screen in the TV mini-series Four Seasons (Giles Foster, 2008) with Tom Conti and Michael York, the film Ruhm/Fame (Isabel Kleefeld, 2011) and the comedy Altersglühen - Speed Dating für Senioren/Old glow - Speeddating for Seniors (Jan Georg Schütte, 2014) with Mario Adorf.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Paul McElligott (Celluloid Heroes), Lenin Imports, The Wild Eye, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards .
20240906_131415 The Sexy Buttcrack of My new girlfriend and bus driver Lilli Diaz
Lilli & Debok sunning 53976149780_0a66ce4aab_b
Lilli & Debok beach pic 53976147555_6e6604f8d8_b
Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990 Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990
reproduced in: 1990 Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky. DAAD/Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin. Curator René Block. Texts by Dan Cameron, Joachim Sartorius, Christine Tacke.
Exhibition view: "Construction in Process III," Lodz, Poland. Participating artists including: Rolf Julius, Ilan Averbuch, Jozef Robakowski, Karin Sander, Svetlana Kopystiansky, Igor Kopystiansky, Michael Snow, Barco Dimitrijevic, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, Jonas Mekas, Francesco Torres, Endre Tot, Jochen Gerz, Micha Ullman, John Nixon, Ken Unsworth, Jerzy Grzegorski, Richard Nonas, Ian Wallace, Ryszard Grzyb, Marcia Hafif, Dennis Oppenheim, Ryszard Wasko, Lawrence Weiner, Emmet Williams.
Collection Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland:
zasoby.msl.org.pl/arts/view/11631
Igor Kopystiansky The Carpet / Dywan
Datowanie: 1990
Technika: asamblaż
Materiały: farba olejna, płótno
Rozmiar:wymiary różne każdego ze 100 elementów od 192x9cm do 16,5x16cm cm
Sposób nabycia:dar
Numer inwentarzowy: MS/SN/M/2109/1-100
Back in Lodz - Construction in Process III
The third edition was organized in 1990 in Lodz.
Participants
Marcela Anselmetti
Rolf Julius
Daniel Reynolds
Ilan Averbuch
Wolf Kahlen
Rafael Rheinsberg
Janusz Baldyga
Elzbieta Kalinowska
Jozef Robakowski
Reiner Barzen
Andromahi Kefalos
Ingrid Roscheck
Terry Berkowitz
Edmund Kieselbach
Nicolas Rowan
Tom Bills
Marek Kijewski
Karin Sander
Monika Brandmeier
Adam Klimczak
Anthony Sansotta
Jean Pierre Brigaudiot
Svetlana Kopystiansky
Igor Kopystiansky
Eva Maria Schon
Wojciech Bruszewski
Philip Smith
Hartmut Boehm
Anna Kutera
Mikolaj Smoczynski
Peter D'Adostino
Romuald Kutera
Eric Snell
Jacqueline Dauriac
Emma J. Lawton
Michael Snow
Barco Dimitrijevic
Edward Łazikowski
Pawel Sobczak
Peter Downsborough
Les Levine
Marek Sobczyk
Kristian Dubbick
Sol LeWitt
Ann Thulin
Bernd Eickhorst
Emilio Lopez-Menchero
Hanne Tierney
Wendy Elliott
Milovan Markovic
Sissel Tolaas
Lilli Engel
Jonas Mekas
Francesco Torres
Gene Flores
Rune Mields
Tout
Michael Galasso
Antoni Mikolajczyk
Endre Tot
Klaus Geldmacher
Teresa Murak
Dagmar Uhde
Jochen Gerz
Giovanni Nicolini
Micha Ullman
Leszek Golec
John Nixon
Ken Unsworth
Jerzy Grzegorski
Richard Nonas
Ian Wallace
Ryszard Grzyb
Ann Noel
Maria Wasko
Marcia Hafif
Dennis Oppenheim
Ryszard Wasko
Tadashi Hashimoto
Erick Oppenheim
Lawrence Weiner
Wolfgang Hainke
Paul Panhuysen
Emmet Williams
Marygold Hodkinson
Luigi Pasotelli
Xawery Wolski
Alexander Honory
Beverly Piersol
Brigida Wrobel-Kulik
Peter Hutchinson
Anna Plotnicka
Marthe Wery
Taka Iimura
David Rabinowitch
Sofia Zezmer
Jean Luc Jehan
Margaret Raspe
Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990 Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990
reproduced in: 1990 Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky. DAAD/Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin. Curator René Block. Texts by Dan Cameron, Joachim Sartorius, Christine Tacke.
Exhibition view: "Construction in Process III," Lodz, Poland. Participating artists including: Rolf Julius, Ilan Averbuch, Jozef Robakowski, Karin Sander, Svetlana Kopystiansky, Igor Kopystiansky, Michael Snow, Barco Dimitrijevic, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, Jonas Mekas, Francesco Torres, Endre Tot, Jochen Gerz, Micha Ullman, John Nixon, Ken Unsworth, Jerzy Grzegorski, Richard Nonas, Ian Wallace, Ryszard Grzyb, Marcia Hafif, Dennis Oppenheim, Ryszard Wasko, Lawrence Weiner, Emmet Williams.
Collection Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland:
zasoby.msl.org.pl/arts/view/11631
Igor Kopystiansky The Carpet / Dywan
Datowanie: 1990
Technika: asamblaż
Materiały: farba olejna, płótno
Rozmiar:wymiary różne każdego ze 100 elementów od 192x9cm do 16,5x16cm cm
Sposób nabycia:dar
Numer inwentarzowy: MS/SN/M/2109/1-100
Back in Lodz - Construction in Process III
The third edition was organized in 1990 in Lodz.
Participants
Marcela Anselmetti
Rolf Julius
Daniel Reynolds
Ilan Averbuch
Wolf Kahlen
Rafael Rheinsberg
Janusz Baldyga
Elzbieta Kalinowska
Jozef Robakowski
Reiner Barzen
Andromahi Kefalos
Ingrid Roscheck
Terry Berkowitz
Edmund Kieselbach
Nicolas Rowan
Tom Bills
Marek Kijewski
Karin Sander
Monika Brandmeier
Adam Klimczak
Anthony Sansotta
Jean Pierre Brigaudiot
Svetlana Kopystiansky
Igor Kopystiansky
Eva Maria Schon
Wojciech Bruszewski
Philip Smith
Hartmut Boehm
Anna Kutera
Mikolaj Smoczynski
Peter D'Adostino
Romuald Kutera
Eric Snell
Jacqueline Dauriac
Emma J. Lawton
Michael Snow
Barco Dimitrijevic
Edward Łazikowski
Pawel Sobczak
Peter Downsborough
Les Levine
Marek Sobczyk
Kristian Dubbick
Sol LeWitt
Ann Thulin
Bernd Eickhorst
Emilio Lopez-Menchero
Hanne Tierney
Wendy Elliott
Milovan Markovic
Sissel Tolaas
Lilli Engel
Jonas Mekas
Francesco Torres
Gene Flores
Rune Mields
Tout
Michael Galasso
Antoni Mikolajczyk
Endre Tot
Klaus Geldmacher
Teresa Murak
Dagmar Uhde
Jochen Gerz
Giovanni Nicolini
Micha Ullman
Leszek Golec
John Nixon
Ken Unsworth
Jerzy Grzegorski
Richard Nonas
Ian Wallace
Ryszard Grzyb
Ann Noel
Maria Wasko
Marcia Hafif
Dennis Oppenheim
Ryszard Wasko
Tadashi Hashimoto
Erick Oppenheim
Lawrence Weiner
Wolfgang Hainke
Paul Panhuysen
Emmet Williams
Marygold Hodkinson
Luigi Pasotelli
Xawery Wolski
Alexander Honory
Beverly Piersol
Brigida Wrobel-Kulik
Peter Hutchinson
Anna Plotnicka
Marthe Wery
Taka Iimura
David Rabinowitch
Sofia Zezmer
Jean Luc Jehan
Margaret Raspe
Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990 Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990
reproduced in: 1990 Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky. DAAD/Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin. Curator René Block. Texts by Dan Cameron, Joachim Sartorius, Christine Tacke.
Exhibition view: "Construction in Process III," Lodz, Poland. Participating artists including: Rolf Julius, Ilan Averbuch, Jozef Robakowski, Karin Sander, Svetlana Kopystiansky, Igor Kopystiansky, Michael Snow, Barco Dimitrijevic, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, Jonas Mekas, Francesco Torres, Endre Tot, Jochen Gerz, Micha Ullman, John Nixon, Ken Unsworth, Jerzy Grzegorski, Richard Nonas, Ian Wallace, Ryszard Grzyb, Marcia Hafif, Dennis Oppenheim, Ryszard Wasko, Lawrence Weiner, Emmet Williams.
Collection Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland:
zasoby.msl.org.pl/arts/view/11631
Igor Kopystiansky The Carpet / Dywan
Datowanie: 1990
Technika: asamblaż
Materiały: farba olejna, płótno
Rozmiar:wymiary różne każdego ze 100 elementów od 192x9cm do 16,5x16cm cm
Sposób nabycia:dar
Numer inwentarzowy: MS/SN/M/2109/1-100
Back in Lodz - Construction in Process III
The third edition was organized in 1990 in Lodz.
Participants
Marcela Anselmetti
Rolf Julius
Daniel Reynolds
Ilan Averbuch
Wolf Kahlen
Rafael Rheinsberg
Janusz Baldyga
Elzbieta Kalinowska
Jozef Robakowski
Reiner Barzen
Andromahi Kefalos
Ingrid Roscheck
Terry Berkowitz
Edmund Kieselbach
Nicolas Rowan
Tom Bills
Marek Kijewski
Karin Sander
Monika Brandmeier
Adam Klimczak
Anthony Sansotta
Jean Pierre Brigaudiot
Svetlana Kopystiansky
Igor Kopystiansky
Eva Maria Schon
Wojciech Bruszewski
Philip Smith
Hartmut Boehm
Anna Kutera
Mikolaj Smoczynski
Peter D'Adostino
Romuald Kutera
Eric Snell
Jacqueline Dauriac
Emma J. Lawton
Michael Snow
Barco Dimitrijevic
Edward Łazikowski
Pawel Sobczak
Peter Downsborough
Les Levine
Marek Sobczyk
Kristian Dubbick
Sol LeWitt
Ann Thulin
Bernd Eickhorst
Emilio Lopez-Menchero
Hanne Tierney
Wendy Elliott
Milovan Markovic
Sissel Tolaas
Lilli Engel
Jonas Mekas
Francesco Torres
Gene Flores
Rune Mields
Tout
Michael Galasso
Antoni Mikolajczyk
Endre Tot
Klaus Geldmacher
Teresa Murak
Dagmar Uhde
Jochen Gerz
Giovanni Nicolini
Micha Ullman
Leszek Golec
John Nixon
Ken Unsworth
Jerzy Grzegorski
Richard Nonas
Ian Wallace
Ryszard Grzyb
Ann Noel
Maria Wasko
Marcia Hafif
Dennis Oppenheim
Ryszard Wasko
Tadashi Hashimoto
Erick Oppenheim
Lawrence Weiner
Wolfgang Hainke
Paul Panhuysen
Emmet Williams
Marygold Hodkinson
Luigi Pasotelli
Xawery Wolski
Alexander Honory
Beverly Piersol
Brigida Wrobel-Kulik
Peter Hutchinson
Anna Plotnicka
Marthe Wery
Taka Iimura
David Rabinowitch
Sofia Zezmer
Jean Luc Jehan
Margaret Raspe
Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990 Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990
reproduced in: 1990 Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky. DAAD/Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin. Curator René Block. Texts by Dan Cameron, Joachim Sartorius, Christine Tacke.
Exhibition view: "Construction in Process III," Lodz, Poland. Participating artists including: Rolf Julius, Ilan Averbuch, Jozef Robakowski, Karin Sander, Svetlana Kopystiansky, Igor Kopystiansky, Michael Snow, Barco Dimitrijevic, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, Jonas Mekas, Francesco Torres, Endre Tot, Jochen Gerz, Micha Ullman, John Nixon, Ken Unsworth, Jerzy Grzegorski, Richard Nonas, Ian Wallace, Ryszard Grzyb, Marcia Hafif, Dennis Oppenheim, Ryszard Wasko, Lawrence Weiner, Emmet Williams.
Collection Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland:
zasoby.msl.org.pl/arts/view/11631
Igor Kopystiansky The Carpet / Dywan
Datowanie: 1990
Technika: asamblaż
Materiały: farba olejna, płótno
Rozmiar:wymiary różne każdego ze 100 elementów od 192x9cm do 16,5x16cm cm
Sposób nabycia:dar
Numer inwentarzowy: MS/SN/M/2109/1-100
Back in Lodz - Construction in Process III
The third edition was organized in 1990 in Lodz.
Participants
Marcela Anselmetti
Rolf Julius
Daniel Reynolds
Ilan Averbuch
Wolf Kahlen
Rafael Rheinsberg
Janusz Baldyga
Elzbieta Kalinowska
Jozef Robakowski
Reiner Barzen
Andromahi Kefalos
Ingrid Roscheck
Terry Berkowitz
Edmund Kieselbach
Nicolas Rowan
Tom Bills
Marek Kijewski
Karin Sander
Monika Brandmeier
Adam Klimczak
Anthony Sansotta
Jean Pierre Brigaudiot
Svetlana Kopystiansky
Igor Kopystiansky
Eva Maria Schon
Wojciech Bruszewski
Philip Smith
Hartmut Boehm
Anna Kutera
Mikolaj Smoczynski
Peter D'Adostino
Romuald Kutera
Eric Snell
Jacqueline Dauriac
Emma J. Lawton
Michael Snow
Barco Dimitrijevic
Edward Łazikowski
Pawel Sobczak
Peter Downsborough
Les Levine
Marek Sobczyk
Kristian Dubbick
Sol LeWitt
Ann Thulin
Bernd Eickhorst
Emilio Lopez-Menchero
Hanne Tierney
Wendy Elliott
Milovan Markovic
Sissel Tolaas
Lilli Engel
Jonas Mekas
Francesco Torres
Gene Flores
Rune Mields
Tout
Michael Galasso
Antoni Mikolajczyk
Endre Tot
Klaus Geldmacher
Teresa Murak
Dagmar Uhde
Jochen Gerz
Giovanni Nicolini
Micha Ullman
Leszek Golec
John Nixon
Ken Unsworth
Jerzy Grzegorski
Richard Nonas
Ian Wallace
Ryszard Grzyb
Ann Noel
Maria Wasko
Marcia Hafif
Dennis Oppenheim
Ryszard Wasko
Tadashi Hashimoto
Erick Oppenheim
Lawrence Weiner
Wolfgang Hainke
Paul Panhuysen
Emmet Williams
Marygold Hodkinson
Luigi Pasotelli
Xawery Wolski
Alexander Honory
Beverly Piersol
Brigida Wrobel-Kulik
Peter Hutchinson
Anna Plotnicka
Marthe Wery
Taka Iimura
David Rabinowitch
Sofia Zezmer
Jean Luc Jehan
Margaret Raspe
Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990 Igor Kopystiansky. The Carpet. 1990
reproduced in: 1990 Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky. DAAD/Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin. Curator René Block. Texts by Dan Cameron, Joachim Sartorius, Christine Tacke.
Exhibition view: "Construction in Process III," Lodz, Poland. Participating artists including: Rolf Julius, Ilan Averbuch, Jozef Robakowski, Karin Sander, Svetlana Kopystiansky, Igor Kopystiansky, Michael Snow, Barco Dimitrijevic, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, Jonas Mekas, Francesco Torres, Endre Tot, Jochen Gerz, Micha Ullman, John Nixon, Ken Unsworth, Jerzy Grzegorski, Richard Nonas, Ian Wallace, Ryszard Grzyb, Marcia Hafif, Dennis Oppenheim, Ryszard Wasko, Lawrence Weiner, Emmet Williams.
Collection Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland:
zasoby.msl.org.pl/arts/view/11631
Igor Kopystiansky The Carpet / Dywan
Datowanie: 1990
Technika: asamblaż
Materiały: farba olejna, płótno
Rozmiar:wymiary różne każdego ze 100 elementów od 192x9cm do 16,5x16cm cm
Sposób nabycia:dar
Numer inwentarzowy: MS/SN/M/2109/1-100
Back in Lodz - Construction in Process III
The third edition was organized in 1990 in Lodz.
Participants
Marcela Anselmetti
Rolf Julius
Daniel Reynolds
Ilan Averbuch
Wolf Kahlen
Rafael Rheinsberg
Janusz Baldyga
Elzbieta Kalinowska
Jozef Robakowski
Reiner Barzen
Andromahi Kefalos
Ingrid Roscheck
Terry Berkowitz
Edmund Kieselbach
Nicolas Rowan
Tom Bills
Marek Kijewski
Karin Sander
Monika Brandmeier
Adam Klimczak
Anthony Sansotta
Jean Pierre Brigaudiot
Svetlana Kopystiansky
Igor Kopystiansky
Eva Maria Schon
Wojciech Bruszewski
Philip Smith
Hartmut Boehm
Anna Kutera
Mikolaj Smoczynski
Peter D'Adostino
Romuald Kutera
Eric Snell
Jacqueline Dauriac
Emma J. Lawton
Michael Snow
Barco Dimitrijevic
Edward Łazikowski
Pawel Sobczak
Peter Downsborough
Les Levine
Marek Sobczyk
Kristian Dubbick
Sol LeWitt
Ann Thulin
Bernd Eickhorst
Emilio Lopez-Menchero
Hanne Tierney
Wendy Elliott
Milovan Markovic
Sissel Tolaas
Lilli Engel
Jonas Mekas
Francesco Torres
Gene Flores
Rune Mields
Tout
Michael Galasso
Antoni Mikolajczyk
Endre Tot
Klaus Geldmacher
Teresa Murak
Dagmar Uhde
Jochen Gerz
Giovanni Nicolini
Micha Ullman
Leszek Golec
John Nixon
Ken Unsworth
Jerzy Grzegorski
Richard Nonas
Ian Wallace
Ryszard Grzyb
Ann Noel
Maria Wasko
Marcia Hafif
Dennis Oppenheim
Ryszard Wasko
Tadashi Hashimoto
Erick Oppenheim
Lawrence Weiner
Wolfgang Hainke
Paul Panhuysen
Emmet Williams
Marygold Hodkinson
Luigi Pasotelli
Xawery Wolski
Alexander Honory
Beverly Piersol
Brigida Wrobel-Kulik
Peter Hutchinson
Anna Plotnicka
Marthe Wery
Taka Iimura
David Rabinowitch
Sofia Zezmer
Jean Luc Jehan
Margaret Raspe
Lilli Being Towed 53973029567_3773a8ece2_b
Lilli & Zebok cuddling 53974351155_f4c83cbb05_b
Lilli & Zebok on Deck 53974234884_00b585cbfd_b
Senta Berger German autograph card.
Beautiful Austrian actress Senta Berger (1941) received many awards for her work in theatre, film, and television, including a Golden Globe Award and a Goldene Kamera. She played in many European co-productions as well as a sex bomb in some Hollywood movies of the 1960s. Later, Berger worked as a producer of internationally acclaimed films and as a bestselling author.
Senta Berger was born in Vienna, Austria in 1941 as the daughter of Therese Jany, a teacher, and Josef Berger, a musician. She first appeared on stage at age four, where her father accompanied his daughter's singing on the piano. At age five, she started ballet lessons, but Senta was asked to leave at 14 because she had ‘developed’ too much. She then took private acting lessons and appeared as an extra in the comedy Du bist die Richtige/You Are The Right One (Erich Engel, Josef von Báky, 1955) starring Curd Jürgens. In 1957, she won her first small role in Die unentschuldigte Stunde/The Unexcused Hour (1957), one of the last films directed by legendary actor-director Willi Forst. She applied for the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a famous acting school in Vienna. Still, she was expelled shortly afterwards after accepting a small role in the film The Journey/Die Reise (Anatole Litvak, 1959) without permission. Only 17, she became the youngest member of the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna in 1958 and played a role in Luigi Pirandello’s Enrico IV. Film producer Arthur Brauner offered her a role opposite German superstar Heinz Rühmann in the deft satire Der brave Soldat Schweijk/The Good Soldier Schweijk (Axel von Ambesser, 1960). Brauner signed a contract for several films and cast her in Schlagerfilms like O sole mio (Paul Martin, 1960) and Adieu, Lebewohl, Goodbye (1961). She soon got tired of them, but Maria Brauner, the producer’s wife, helped her to get a part next to O.W. Fischer and Eva Bartok in the thrillers Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein/Operation Caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961) and Diesmal muß es Kaviar sein/This time it has to be caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961). These spy thrillers, based on the novels by Johannes Mario Simmel, meant her breakthrough. Berger became a staple in European co-productions like Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes/Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (Terence Fisher, Frank Winterstein, 1962) starring Christopher Lee, and Kali-Yug, la Dea della Vendetta/Vengeance of Kali (Mario Camerini, 1963) with Lex Barker. On the invitation of Richard Widmark, with whom she had appeared in the Cold War adventure film The Secret Ways (Phil Karlson, 1961), she went to Hollywood. There she appeared in the anti-war drama The Victors (Carl Foreman, 1963) and The Waltz King (Steve Previn, 1963), a two-parter in the TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Though an actress of more than average talent, Berger was regarded as just another European sex bomb by most Hollywood publicity flacks. She was offered a five-year contract by a major Hollywood studio, but she decided to return to Germany.
During the shooting of the comedy Jacky und Jenny/Jacky and Jenny (Victor Vicas, 1964), Senta Berger met Michael Verhoeven, son of the German film director Paul Verhoeven (not the Dutch Paul Verhoeven). They started their own film production company Sentana-Filmproduktion in 1965 and married the following year. Berger continued to develop her international career and played with such stars as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Yul Brynner. She appeared in numerous Euro-spy films such as the Italian crime comedy Operazione San Gennaro/Operation San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966), the British comedy Our Man in Marrakech (Don Sharp, 1966) with Tony Randall, and the French thriller Peau d’Espion/To Commit a Murder (Edouard Molinaro, 1967) with Louis Jourdan. One of her best-known Hollywood movies is the Western Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah, 1965) with Charlton Heston. On the Celluloid Heroes blog, Paul McElligott writes: “Major Dundee is one of Sam Peckinpah’s early works, a highly stylized Western that fits perfectly the outsized performances of its stars, Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. Neither the story, the dialogue or the acting can be called realistic, but it is what it claims to be, a rousing entertainment.” In Cast a Giant Shadow (Melville Shavelson, 1966) with Kirk Douglas, she played the role of Magda, a soldier in the Israeli army during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. That same year she was also a German schoolteacher involved in neo-Nazi activity opposite Max von Sydow and George Segal in the spy film The Quiller Memorandum (Michael Anderson, 1966). A Curio is the short film Vienna (1967) directed by Orson Welles. In the film Welles is wandering through Vienna, remembering The Third Man and then, aided by Berger and Mickey Rooney, he suddenly stumbles into a spy satire which is, according to the IMDb reviewer, “simply hilariously funny”. In 1967, Berger acted also in the pilot for the American television TV series It Takes a Thief (1968) starring Robert Wagner. She reprised her role in the series in 1969, in an episode in which her character was killed off.
In 1970 Senta Berger appeared in the Italian caveman spoof Quando le Donne Avevano la Coda/When Women Had Tails (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1970), which was a surprise box-office hit in Italy. Her participation in this banal sex-comedy leads Hal Erickson at AllMovie to the conclusion that “by 1970, Senta Berger gave up any hopes of being taken seriously.” That year though, she also starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband, Wer im Glashaus liebt/He Who Loves in a Glass House (Michael Verhoeven, 1970). Two years later she featured in Volker Schlöndorff’s Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass/Morals of Ruth Halbfass (Volker Schlöndorff, 1972) followed by the leading role in Der scharlachrote Buchstabe/The Scarlet Letter (Wim Wenders, 1973). And in Italy, she appeared in several films for high-quality directors such as Roma Bene (Carlo Lizzani, 1971), L'Amante dell'orsa maggiore/The Smugglers (Valentino Orsini, 1972), Bisturi: La Mafia Bianca/Hospitals: The White Mafia (Luigi Zampa, 1973) and the Giallo L'Uomo Senza Memoria/Puzzle (Duccio Tessari, 1974) opposite Luc Merenda. Following the birth of her two sons, Simon (1972) and Luca (1979), Berger returned to theatre work. She played at the famous Burgtheater in Vienna, at the Thaliatheater in Hamburg and at the Schillertheater in Berlin. Between 1974 and 1982, she played the Buhlschaft in the play Jedermann (Everyman) at the Salzburg Festival with Curd Jürgens and later Maximilian Schell in the title role. She also co-starred with Schell and James Coburn in the war film Cross of Iron (Sam Peckinpah, 1977).
In 1985, Senta Berger started a comeback in front of German-speaking TV audiences in the popular, ironic mini-series Kir Royal (Helmut Dietl,1985-1986), about a Munich gossip reporter and the city’s legendary high society circles. Further serial hits followed, like Die schnelle Gerdi/The Fast Gerti (Michael Verhoeven, 1989), where she played a Munich cab driver. In the same year, she also started a career as a singer of Chansons. Berger continued to work in Italy and appeared opposite Marcello Mastroianni in Le Due Vite di Mattia Pascal/The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal (Mario Monicelli, 1985), based on a Luigi Pirandello story. Berger and Verhoeven produced acclaimed and internationally successful films including Die weiße Rose/The White Rose (Michael Verhoeven, 1982) and Das schreckliche Mädchen/The Terrible Girl (Michael Verhoeven, 1990), both starring Lena Stolze. During the 1990s Berger was mostly seen as a smart, sexy and honest woman on TV. In 1991 she played an acclaimed role in the marriage drama Sie und Er/She and He (Frank Beyer, 1991). Series followed like Lilli Lottofee (Michael Verhoeven, 1992) and Ärzte/Doctors (1994-1996). Then she played parts in Sandra Nettelbeck‘s film debut Mammamia (1998), Bin ich schön?/Am I Beautiful (Doris Dörrie, 1998) and the TV film Trennungsfieber/Divorce Fever (Manfred Stelzer, 2000). Since February 2003, Berger has been president of the German Film Academy, which seeks to advance the new generation of actors and actresses in Germany and Europe. The Academy will decide the assignment of the German Film Awards in the future. 2005 saw her in the cinemas in Einmal so wie ich will/For Once As I Want It (Vivian Naefe, 2005) opposite Götz George, as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. She finds love on holiday but turns her back on the relationship. In the spring of 2006, Berger's autobiography was published in Germany: 'Ich habe ja gewußt, daß ich fliegen kann' (I Knew That I Could Fly). It became a bestseller. Among her memories of Hollywood are a less-than-subtle attempt by Darryl Zanuck to get her on his casting couch, and being called ‘You German pig’ on her first day on the set of Major Dundee by a gaffer whose wife had lost her family in Auschwitz. Senta Berger is still married to Michael Verhoeven and their sons Simon and Luca Verhoeven are both actors now. She lives in Grünwald near Munich, Germany. This century she worked on the screen in the TV mini-series Four Seasons (Giles Foster, 2008) with Tom Conti and Michael York, the film Ruhm/Fame (Isabel Kleefeld, 2011) and the comedy Altersglühen - Speed Dating für Senioren/Old glow - Speeddating for Seniors (Jan Georg Schütte, 2014) with Mario Adorf.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Paul McElligott (Celluloid Heroes), Lenin Imports, The Wild Eye, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards .
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Senta Berger German autograph card, 2007.
Beautiful Austrian actress Senta Berger (1941) received many awards for her work in theatre, film, and television, including a Golden Globe Award and a Goldene Kamera. She played in many European co-productions as well as a sex bomb in some Hollywood movies of the 1960s. Later, Berger worked as a producer of internationally acclaimed films and as a bestselling author.
Senta Berger was born in Vienna, Austria in 1941 as the daughter of Therese Jany, a teacher, and Josef Berger, a musician. She first appeared on stage at the age of four, where her father accompanied his daughter's singing on the piano. At the age of five, she started ballet lessons, but Senta was asked to leave at 14 because she had ‘developed’ too much. She then took private acting lessons and appeared as an extra in the comedy Du bist die Richtige/You Are The Right One (Erich Engel, Josef von Báky, 1955) starring Curd Jürgens. In 1957, she won her first small role in Die unentschuldigte Stunde/The Unexcused Hour (1957), one of the last films directed by legendary actor-director Willi Forst. She applied for the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a famous acting school in Vienna, but she was expelled shortly afterwards after accepting a small role in the film The Journey/Die Reise (Anatole Litvak, 1959) without permission. Only 17, she became the youngest member of the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna in 1958 and played a role in Luigi Pirandello’s Enrico IV. Film producer Arthur Brauner offered her a role opposite German superstar Heinz Rühmann in the deft satire Der brave Soldat Schweijk/The Good Soldier Schweijk (Axel von Ambesser, 1960). Brauner signed a contract for several films and cast her in Schlagerfilms like O sole mio (Paul Martin, 1960) and Adieu, Lebewohl, Goodbye (1961). She soon got tired of them, but Maria Brauner, the producer’s wife, helped her to get a part next to O.W. Fischer and Eva Bartok in the thrillers Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein/Operation Caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961) and Diesmal muß es Kaviar sein/This time it has to be caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961). These spy thrillers, based on the novels by Johannes Mario Simmel, meant her breakthrough. Berger became a staple in European co-productions like Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes/Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (Terence Fisher, Frank Winterstein, 1962) starring Christopher Lee, and Kali-Yug, la Dea della Vendetta/Vengeance of Kali (Mario Camerini, 1963) with Lex Barker. On the invitation of Richard Widmark, with whom she had appeared in the Cold War adventure film The Secret Ways (Phil Karlson, 1961), she went to Hollywood. There she appeared in the anti-war drama The Victors (Carl Foreman, 1963) and The Waltz King (Steve Previn, 1963), a two-parter in the TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Though an actress of more than average talent, Berger was regarded as just another European sex bomb by most Hollywood publicity flacks. She was offered a five-year contract by a major Hollywood studio, but she decided to return to Germany.
During the shooting of the comedy Jacky und Jenny/Jacky and Jenny (Victor Vicas, 1964), Senta Berger met Michael Verhoeven, son of the German film director Paul Verhoeven (not the Dutch Paul Verhoeven). They started their own film production company Sentana-Filmproduktion in 1965 and married the following year. Berger continued to develop her international career and played with such stars as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Yul Brynner. She appeared in numerous Euro-spy films such as the Italian crime comedy Operazione San Gennaro/Operation San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966), the British comedy Our Man in Marrakech (Don Sharp, 1966) with Tony Randall, and the French thriller Peau d’Espion/To Commit a Murder (Edouard Molinaro, 1967) with Louis Jourdan. One of her best-known Hollywood movies is the Western Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah, 1965) with Charlton Heston. On the Celluloid Heroes blog, Paul McElligott writes: “Major Dundee is one of Sam Peckinpah’s early works, a highly stylized Western that fits perfectly the outsized performances of its stars, Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. Neither the story, the dialogue or the acting can be called realistic, but it is what it claims to be, a rousing entertainment.” In Cast a Giant Shadow (Melville Shavelson, 1966) with Kirk Douglas, she played the role of Magda, a soldier in the Israeli army during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. That same year she was also a German schoolteacher involved in neo-Nazi activity opposite Max von Sydow and George Segal in the spy film The Quiller Memorandum (Michael Anderson, 1966). A Curio is the short film Vienna (1967) directed by Orson Welles. In the film Welles is wandering through Vienna, remembering The Third Man and then, aided by Berger and Mickey Rooney, he suddenly stumbles into a spy satire which is, according to the IMDb reviewer, “simply hilariously funny”. In 1967, Berger acted also in the pilot for the American television TV series It Takes a Thief (1968) starring Robert Wagner. She reprised her role in the series in 1969, in an episode in which her character was killed off.
In 1970 Senta Berger appeared in the Italian caveman spoof Quando le Donne Avevano la Coda/When Women Had Tails (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1970), which was a surprise box-office hit in Italy. Her participation in this banal sex-comedy leads Hal Erickson at AllMovie to the conclusion that “by 1970, Senta Berger gave up any hopes of being taken seriously.” That year though, she also starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband, Wer im Glashaus liebt/He Who Loves in a Glass House (Michael Verhoeven, 1970). Two years later she featured in Volker Schlöndorff’s Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass/Morals of Ruth Halbfass (Volker Schlöndorff, 1972) followed by the leading role in Der scharlachrote Buchstabe/The Scarlet Letter (Wim Wenders, 1973). And in Italy, she appeared in several films for high-quality directors such as Roma Bene (Carlo Lizzani, 1971), L'Amante dell'orsa maggiore/The Smugglers (Valentino Orsini, 1972), Bisturi: La Mafia Bianca/Hospitals: The White Mafia (Luigi Zampa, 1973) and the Giallo L'Uomo Senza Memoria/Puzzle (Duccio Tessari, 1974) opposite Luc Merenda. Following the birth of her two sons, Simon (1972) and Luca (1979), Berger returned to theatre work. She played at the famous Burgtheater in Vienna, at the Thaliatheater in Hamburg and at the Schillertheater in Berlin. Between 1974 and 1982, she played the Buhlschaft in the play Jedermann (Everyman) at the Salzburg Festival with Curd Jürgens and later Maximilian Schell in the title role. She also co-starred with Schell and James Coburn in the war film Cross of Iron (Sam Peckinpah, 1977).
In 1985, Senta Berger started a comeback in front of German-speaking TV audiences in the popular, ironic mini-series Kir Royal (Helmut Dietl,1985-1986), about a Munich gossip reporter and the city’s legendary high society circles. Further serial hits followed, like Die schnelle Gerdi/The Fast Gerti (Michael Verhoeven, 1989), where she played a Munich cab driver. In the same year, she also started a career as a singer of Chansons. Berger continued to work in Italy and appeared opposite Marcello Mastroianni in Le Due Vite di Mattia Pascal/The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal (Mario Monicelli, 1985), based on a Luigi Pirandello story. Berger and Verhoeven produced acclaimed and internationally successful films including Die weiße Rose/The White Rose (Michael Verhoeven, 1982) and Das schreckliche Mädchen/The Terrible Girl (Michael Verhoeven, 1990), both starring Lena Stolze. During the 1990s Berger was mostly seen as a smart, sexy and honest woman on TV. In 1991 she played an acclaimed role in the marriage drama Sie und Er/She and He (Frank Beyer, 1991). Series followed like Lilli Lottofee (Michael Verhoeven, 1992) and Ärzte/Doctors (1994-1996). Then she played parts in Sandra Nettelbeck‘s film debut Mammamia (1998), Bin ich schön?/Am I Beautiful (Doris Dörrie, 1998) and the TV film Trennungsfieber/Divorce Fever (Manfred Stelzer, 2000). Since February 2003, Berger has been president of the German Film Academy, which seeks to advance the new generation of actors and actresses in Germany and Europe. The Academy will decide the assignment of the German Film Awards in the future. 2005 saw her in the cinemas in Einmal so wie ich will/For Once As I Want It (Vivian Naefe, 2005) opposite Götz George, as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. She finds love on holiday but turns her back on the relationship. In the spring of 2006, Berger's autobiography was published in Germany: 'Ich habe ja gewußt, daß ich fliegen kann' (I Knew That I Could Fly). It became a bestseller. Among her memories of Hollywood are a less-than-subtle attempt by Darryl Zanuck to get her on his casting couch, and being called ‘You German pig’ on her first day on the set of Major Dundee by a gaffer whose wife had lost her family in Auschwitz. Senta Berger is still married to Michael Verhoeven and their sons Simon and Luca Verhoeven are both actors now. She lives in Grünwald near Munich, Germany. This century she worked for the screen in the TV mini-series Four Seasons (Giles Foster, 2008) with Tom Conti and Michael York, the film Ruhm/Fame (Isabel Kleefeld, 2011) and the comedy Altersglühen - Speed Dating für Senioren/Old glow - Speeddating for Seniors (Jan Georg Schütte, 2014) with Mario Adorf.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Paul McElligott (Celluloid Heroes), Lenin Imports, The Wild Eye, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards .
Lilli dancing 53962068859_d30b0a9e99_b
Senta Berger in Operazione San Gennaro (1966) East German postcard by Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3107, 1968. Senta Berger in Operazione San Gennaro/Operation San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966).
Beautiful Austrian actress Senta Berger (1941) received many awards for her work in theatre, film, and television, including a Golden Globe Award and a Goldene Kamera. She played in many European co-productions as well as a sex bomb in some Hollywood movies of the 1960s. Berger works now also as a producer of internationally acclaimed films and as a bestselling author.
Senta Berger was born in Vienna, Austria in 1941 as the daughter of Therese Jany, a teacher, and Josef Berger, a musician. She first appeared on stage at the age of four, where her father accompanied his daughter's singing on the piano. At the age of five, she started ballet lessons, but Senta was asked to leave at 14 because she had ‘developed’ too much. She then took private acting lessons and appeared as an extra in the comedy Du bist die Richtige/You Are The Right One (Erich Engel, Josef von Báky, 1955) starring Curd Jürgens. In 1957, she won her first small role in Die unentschuldigte Stunde/The Unexcused Hour (1957), one of the last films directed by legendary actor-director Willi Forst. She applied for the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a famous acting school in Vienna, but she was expelled shortly afterwards after accepting a small role in the film The Journey/Die Reise (Anatole Litvak, 1959) without permission. Only 17, she became the youngest member of the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna in 1958 and played a role in Luigi Pirandello’s Enrico IV. Film producer Arthur Brauner offered her a role opposite German superstar Heinz Rühmann in the deft satire Der brave Soldat Schweijk/The Good Soldier Schweijk (Axel von Ambesser, 1960). Brauner signed a contract for several films and cast her in Schlagerfilms like O sole mio (Paul Martin, 1960) and Adieu, Lebewohl, Goodbye (1961). She soon got tired of them, but Maria Brauner, the producer’s wife, helped her to get a part next to O.W. Fischer and Eva Bartok in the thrillers Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein/Operation Caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961) and Diesmal muß es Kaviar sein/This time it has to be caviar (Geza von Radvanyi, 1961). These spy thrillers, based on the novels by Johannes Mario Simmel, meant her breakthrough. Berger became a staple in European co-productions like Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes/Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (Terence Fisher, Frank Winterstein, 1962) starring Christopher Lee, and Kali-Yug, la Dea della Vendetta/Vengeance of Kali (Mario Camerini, 1963) with Lex Barker. On the invitation of Richard Widmark, with whom she had appeared in the Cold War adventure film The Secret Ways (Phil Karlson, 1961), she went to Hollywood. There she appeared in the anti-war drama The Victors (Carl Foreman, 1963) and The Waltz King (Steve Previn, 1963), a two-parter in the TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Though an actress of more than average talent, Berger was regarded as just another European sex bomb by most Hollywood publicity flacks. She was offered a five-year contract by a major Hollywood studio, but she decided to return to Germany.
During the shooting of the comedy Jacky und Jenny/Jacky and Jenny (Victor Vicas, 1964), Senta Berger met Michael Verhoeven, son of the German film director Paul Verhoeven (not the Dutch Paul Verhoeven). They started their own film production company Sentana-Filmproduktion in 1965 and married the following year. Berger continued to develop her international career and played with such stars as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, and Yul Brynner. She appeared in numerous Euro-spy films such as the Italian crime comedy Operazione San Gennaro/Operation San Gennaro (Dino Risi, 1966), the British comedy Our Man in Marrakech (Don Sharp, 1966) with Tony Randall, and the French thriller Peau d’Espion/To Commit a Murder (Edouard Molinaro, 1967) with Louis Jourdan. One of her best-known Hollywood movies is the Western Major Dundee (Sam Peckinpah, 1965) with Charlton Heston. On the Celluloid Heroes blog, Paul McElligott writes: “Major Dundee is one of Sam Peckinpah’s early works, a highly stylized Western that fits perfectly the outsized performances of its stars, Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. Neither the story, the dialogue or the acting can be called realistic, but it is what it claims to be, a rousing entertainment.” In Cast a Giant Shadow (Melville Shavelson, 1966) with Kirk Douglas, she played the role of Magda, a soldier in the Israeli army during the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. That same year she was also a German schoolteacher involved in neo-Nazi activity opposite Max von Sydow and George Segal in the spy film The Quiller Memorandum (Michael Anderson, 1966). A Curio is the short film Vienna (1967) directed by Orson Welles. In the film Welles is wandering through Vienna, remembering The Third Man and then, aided by Berger and Mickey Rooney, he suddenly stumbles into a spy satire which is, according to the IMDb reviewer, “simply hilariously funny”. In 1967, Berger acted also in the pilot for the American television TV series It Takes a Thief (1968) starring Robert Wagner. She reprised her role in the series in 1969, in an episode in which her character was killed off.
In 1970 Senta Berger appeared in the Italian caveman spoof Quando le Donne Avevano la Coda/When Women Had Tails (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1970), which was a surprise box-office hit in Italy. Her participation in this banal sex-comedy leads Hal Erickson at AllMovie to the conclusion that “by 1970, Senta Berger gave up any hopes of being taken seriously.” That year though, she also starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband, Wer im Glashaus liebt/He Who Loves in a Glass House (Michael Verhoeven, 1970). Two years later she featured in Volker Schlöndorff’s Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass/Morals of Ruth Halbfass (Volker Schlöndorff, 1972) followed by the leading role in Der scharlachrote Buchstabe/The Scarlet Letter (Wim Wenders, 1973). And in Italy, she appeared in several films for high-quality directors such as Roma Bene (Carlo Lizzani, 1971), L'Amante dell'orsa maggiore/The Smugglers (Valentino Orsini, 1972), Bisturi: La Mafia Bianca/Hospitals: The White Mafia (Luigi Zampa, 1973) and the Giallo L'Uomo Senza Memoria/Puzzle (Duccio Tessari, 1974) opposite Luc Merenda. Following the birth of her two sons, Simon (1972) and Luca (1979), Berger returned to theatre work. She played at the famous Burgtheater in Vienna, at the Thaliatheater in Hamburg and at the Schillertheater in Berlin. Between 1974 and 1982, she played the Buhlschaft in the play Jedermann (Everyman) at the Salzburg Festival with Curd Jürgens and later Maximilian Schell in the title role. She also co-starred with Schell and James Coburn in the war film Cross of Iron (Sam Peckinpah, 1977).
In 1985, Senta Berger started a comeback in front of German-speaking TV audiences in the popular, ironic mini-series Kir Royal (Helmut Dietl,1985-1986), about a Munich gossip reporter and the city’s legendary high society circles. Further serial hits followed, like Die schnelle Gerdi/The Fast Gerti (Michael Verhoeven, 1989), where she played a Munich cab driver. In the same year, she also started a career as a singer of Chansons. Berger continued to work in Italy and appeared opposite Marcello Mastroianni in Le Due Vite di Mattia Pascal/The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal (Mario Monicelli, 1985), based on a Luigi Pirandello story. Berger and Verhoeven produced acclaimed and internationally successful films including Die weiße Rose/The White Rose (Michael Verhoeven, 1982) and Das schreckliche Mädchen/The Terrible Girl (Michael Verhoeven, 1990), both starring Lena Stolze. During the 1990s Berger was mostly seen as a smart, sexy and honest woman on TV. In 1991 she played an acclaimed role in the marriage drama Sie und Er/She and He (Frank Beyer, 1991). Series followed like Lilli Lottofee (Michael Verhoeven, 1992) and Ärzte/Doctors (1994-1996). Then she played parts in Sandra Nettelbeck‘s film debut Mammamia (1998), Bin ich schön?/Am I Beautiful (Doris Dörrie, 1998) and the TV film Trennungsfieber/Divorce Fever (Manfred Stelzer, 2000). Since February 2003, Berger has been president of the German Film Academy, which seeks to advance the new generation of actors and actresses in Germany and Europe. The Academy will decide the assignment of the German Film Awards in the future. 2005 saw her in the cinemas in Einmal so wie ich will/For Once As I Want It (Vivian Naefe, 2005) opposite Götz George, as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. She finds love on holiday but turns her back on the relationship. In the spring of 2006, Berger's autobiography was published in Germany: Ich habe ja gewußt, daß ich fliegen kann (I Knew That I Could Fly). It became a bestseller. Among her memories of Hollywood are a less-than-subtle attempt by Darryl Zanuck to get her on his casting couch, and being called ‘You German pig’ on her first day on the set of Major Dundee by a gaffer whose wife had lost her family in Auschwitz. Senta Berger is still married to Michael Verhoeven and their sons Simon and Luca Verhoeven are both actors now. She lives in Grünwald near Munich, Germany. Recently she worked for the screen in the TV mini-series Four Seasons (Giles Foster, 2008) with Tom Conti and Michael York, the film Ruhm/Fame (Isabel Kleefeld, 2011) and the comedy Altersglühen - Speed Dating für Senioren/Old glow - Speeddating for Seniors (Jan Georg Schütte, 2014) with Mario Adorf.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Paul McElligott (Celluloid Heroes), Lenin Imports, The Wild Eye, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards .
Lilli & Zebok in Love 53959929270_8085ea124a_b
Lilli & Zebok chilling 53959720648_6543339a5c_b
Lilli & Zebok at Beach Shack 53959469501_7ffda8cf59_b
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