LONDON 2009 Helmut at the age of 18, moved to London

Foto:G.Ludovice

Helmut Berger
(born May 29, 1944) is an Austrian actor.

Berger (whose real name is Helmut Steinberger) was born in Bad Ischl, Austria, into a family of hoteliers. He initially trained and worked in this field, even though he had no interest in gastronomy or the hospitality industry. At the age of 18, he moved to London, where he did odd-jobs while taking acting classes. After studying languages in Perugia, Berger moved to Rome.

In 1964, he first met Luchino Visconti, with whom he later had a relationship. Visconti gave him his first acting role in the movie Le streghe (1967) (in the episode "La strega bruciata viva"), but he gained international prominence as the amoral Martin von Essenbeck in Visconti's The Damned (1969). In The Damned, in what is perhaps his best known scene, he mimics Marlene Dietrich in Der blaue Engel. In Visconti's Ludwig, Berger portrays Ludwig II of Bavaria ('Mad Ludwig') from his blooming youth, to his dissolute final years.

In 1969, Berger was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in The Damned, and in 1973 he won the European Oscar "David di Donatello" for his performance in Ludwig. In 2007, he received a Special Teddy award at the Berlin Film Festival for his overall professional achievements.
Berger has worked in television, most notably in the role of Peter De Vilbis in Dynasty, which he did only for money (he would later call it "crying on the way to the set but laughing on the way to the bank".) This was his last appearance in a TV series.
In Berger's latest film Iron Cross he plays Shrager, an aging character believed to be an old SS commander responsible for murdering Jews during World War II. Currently, the film is in post-production and set to be released in summer 2010.

Berger, openly bisexual, has been a frequent guest on many talk shows, giving interviews on topics such as his serious relationship with Marisa Berenson, whom he supposedly wished to marry, and erotic adventures with Bianca and Mick Jagger, Edy Star (Brazilian singer/actor) and other rock stars in the 1970s and 1980s.
Visconti's death in 1976 plunged Berger into a deep personal crisis. Visconti's will, in which Berger was apparently named as heir, could not be found. Berger attempted suicide on the first anniversary of Visconti's death, and also had problems with drug and alcohol abuse.
In 2004, Berger moved from Rome to Salzburg to live with his mother; he denied rumours of financial difficulties, explaining he was merely looking for a new apartment in Rome. He also declared that he had stopped using drugs.

Filmography
1967 – The Witches (Luchino Visconti)
1968 – The Young Tigers (Antonio Leonviola)
1968 – Sai cosa faceva Stalin alle donne? (Maurizio Liverani)
1969 – The Damned (Luchino Visconti)
1970 – The Picture of Dorian Gray (Massimo Dallamano)
1970 – The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Vittorio De Sica)
1971 – Un beau monstre (Sergio Gobbi)
1971 – The Bloodstained Butterfly (Duccio Tessari)
1972 – Ludwig (Luchino Visconti)
1972 – La colonna infame (Nelo Risi)
1973 – Les Voraces (Sergio Gobbi)
1973 – Ash Wednesday (Larry Peerce)
1973 – Reigen (Otto Schenk)
1974 – Conversation Piece (Luchino Visconti)
1975 – Order to Kill (José G. Maesso)
1975 – The Romantic Englishwoman (Joseph Losey)
1976 – Salon Kitty (Tinto Brass)
1976 – Victory at Entebbe (Marvin Chomsky)
1977 – Beast with a Gun (Sergio Grieco)
1978 – Il quinto comandamento (Duccio Tessari)
1978 – The Biggest Battle (Umberto Lenzi)
1979 – Le Rose di Danzica (Alberto Bevilacqua)
1980 – Fantomas (Claude Chabrol)
1981 – Mia moglie è una strega (Castellano & Pipolo)
1982 – Deadly Game (Károly Makk)
1982 – Victoria! La gran aventura de un poble (A. Ribas)
1983 – Eroina (Massimo Pirri)
1983 – Femmes (T. Kaleya)
1983 – Victoria! 2: El frenesì del 17 (A. Ribas)
1983 – Veliki Transport (V. Bulajic)
1983/84 – Dynasty
1984 – Victoria! 3: La razon y el arrebato (A. Ribas)
1985 – Codename: Emerald (J. Sanger)
1988 – Faceless (Jess Franco)
1988 – Act of Revenge (Salvatore Nocita)
1989 – La Puritana (Nini Grassia)
1990 – The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola)
1992 – Adelaide (Lucio Gaudino)
1993 – Boomtown (Ch. Schrewe)
1993 – Ludwig 1881 (F. Dubini / D. Dubini)
1995 – L'affaire Dreyfuss (Y. Boisset)
1996 – Teo (Cinzia TH Torrini)
1996 – L'ombra del faraone (S. Ben Barka)
1996 – Last Cut (Marcello Avallone)
1997 – Die 120 Tage von Bottrop (Ch. Schlingensief)
1999 – Under the Palms (M. Kruishoop)
2002 – Zapping Alien (V. Zeplichal)
2004 – Honey Baby (Mika Kaurismäki)
2005 – Damals warst du still (R. Matsutani)
2010 – Iron Cross (Joshua Newton) – post-production
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