Romy Schneider (born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; September 23, 1938 – May 29, 1982) was a German-Austrian-French actress.
She was born in Vienna, Austria (which was part of the German Third Reich at that time, since the Anschluss in March 1938), to a German mother and an Austrian father. Her parents were both actors. She grew up in Germany and started her career there in 1953.
In 1955, she became a star with her role as Elisabeth of Wittelsbach aka "Sisi", later Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, in an Austrian Biopic (which would have two sequels). In 1959, she moved to Paris to live with her then-lover Alain Delon, who she fell in love with during the filming of the 1958 French-Italian film Christine. In 1962, she moved to Hollywood, where she appeared in The Cardinal, by Otto Preminger and Good Neighbor Sam, by David Swift. In 1963, we went back to Paris after Delon broke up with her. In 1966, she married Harry Meyen, a German actor and director. She moved to Berlin and gave birth to David, her first child, in the same year. In 1972, she broke up with Meyen (who hanged himself in 1979).
In 1974, she had a breakdown. From this point on, she progressively became addicted to drugs and alcohol. In 1975 she married her secretary Daniel Biasini and in 1977 she had a second child, Sarah Biasini, who became an actress. In 1981 she got divorced again. That same year, David, her 14-year-old son from Harry Meyen, died accidentally as the result of a fall (impaling himself on spiked gates), which devastated her. Her distress was an object of attention of the media, and some paparazzi even pretended to be nurses to photograph the dead body of her son.
On May 29, 1982, she was found dead in her flat in Paris, at the age of 43. The cause was a heart attack, which was probably caused by a weakened heart due to drug abuse and distress from the loss of her son.
Works with pages on TV Tropes:
- Sissi (1955) and its sequels
- Christine (1958)
- Mädchen in Uniform (1958)
- Purple Noon (1960)
- The Trial (1962)
- The Victors (1963)
- What's New Pussycat? (1965)
- Is Paris Burning? (1966, Deleted Role)
- La Piscine (1969)
- The Things of Life (1970)
- Ludwig (1973)
- Le Vieux Fusil (1975)
- Deathwatch (1980)
- Garde à vue (1981)
Trivia associated with her include:
- Fanservice Pack: She started her career as a teenage actress in The '50s, so she had the image of a pure and innocent girl, and the Sissi films maintained that somewhat. In The '60s, after her return to France, she broke with this image and progressively became Ms. Fanservice. For example, in La Piscine (1969), she is wearing swimsuits during most of the film.
- Real-Life Relative:
- She played in several films with her mother Magda Schneider: When the White Lilacs Bloom Again (1953), Victoria in Dover (1954), Die Deutschmeister (1955), Sissi (1955), Sissi – The Young Empress (1956), The Girl and the Legend (1957), Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957), Eva (1958).
- She played in two films with her then-lover Alain Delon: Christine (1958) and Purple Noon (1960). In 1969, she co-starred with him again in La Piscine, but they were not in a relationship anymore by that time.
- Role Reprise: She played Sisi again in Ludwig (since she was the cousin of King Ludwig II of Bavaria).
- Romance on the Set: Happened with Alain Delon during the filming of Christine (1958), with Jean-Louis Trintignant during the filming of The Train (1973), with Jacques Dutronc during the filming of That Most Important Thing: Love (1975).
- Star-Making Role: Her role as Sisi, the Empress of Austria, in the Austrian film trilogy of the same name (1955-1956-1957).
