Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally asRomy Schneider (German:[ˈʁoːmiˈʃnaɪdɐ,ˈʁɔmi-]ⓘ), was a German and French actress.[1] She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to her role asEmpress Elisabeth of Austria in theSissi trilogy in the mid-1950s.[2][3][4][5] She later reprised the role in a more mature version inLuchino Visconti'sLudwig (1973). She began her career in the GermanHeimatfilm genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. Schneider moved to France, where she made successful and critically acclaimed films with some of the most notable film directors of that era.Coco Chanel called Romy "the ultimate incarnation of the ideal woman".[6][7]Bertrand Tavernier remarked: "Sautet is talking aboutMozart with regard to Romy. Me, I want to talk ofVerdi,Mahler..."[8]
Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach inVienna, six months after theAnschluss of Austria into theGerman Reich. She was born to a theatrical family;[9] her fatherWolf Albach-Retty was a leading actor ofVienna's Volkstheater, and her motherMagda Schneider starred in scores of lavish musical films in Germany. Her paternal grandmotherRosa Albach-Retty had been one of the most popular actresses of the Austrian theater. Rosemarie, known to family as Romy from her earliest years, was educated at private schools in Berchtesgaden and Salzburg. Interested in painting, she planned to continue her education at art school, but she was also interested in school plays, not only acting in them but directing as well.[9]
Four weeks after her birth, her parents took her toSchönau am Königssee in Germany where she and later her brother Wolf-Dieter (born 1941) grew up with their grandparents Franz Xaver and Maria Schneider on the country estateMariengrund. In her first year, Schneider was cared for by a governess. Her parents were very rarely present due to their acting engagements. In 1943, they separated and divorced in 1945.[10][11]
In September 1944, Schneider was enrolled in the elementary school of Schönau and from July 1949 she attended the girls' boarding school atCastle Goldenstein [de], a private secondary school of theAugustinianCanonesses of the Congregation ofNotre Dame inElsbethen near Salzburg. During her schooldays, she discovered her passion for acting which is why she was often on stage at theatrical performances at the residential school. In her diary entry of 10 June 1952, she wrote: "If it were up to me, I would immediately become an actress. ... Every time I see a nice movie, my first thoughts are about the idea: I definitely have to become an actress. Yes! I have to!"[12] On 12 July 1953, she left the residential school Goldenstein with the degree ofMittlere Reife. After the summer holidays, she moved to Cologne to join her mother who lived there with the restaurateur and entrepreneurHans Herbert Blatzheim [de].[13]
After her parents' divorce in 1945, Magda took charge of Schneider and her brother Wolf-Dieter, eventually supervising her career, often appearing alongside her daughter. Her career was also overseen by her stepfather Blatzheim who, Schneider said, had made sexual advances on her.[14][15][16][17][18]
Schneider's first film, made when she was 15, wasWhen the White Lilacs Bloom Again (1953), credited as Romy Schneider-Albach. In 1954, Schneider, for the first time, portrayed a royal, playing a youngQueen Victoria in the Austrian filmMädchenjahre einer Königin (known in the U.S. asThe Story of Vickie and in Britain asVictoria in Dover).
Schneider starred inChristine (1958), aremake ofMax Ophüls's 1933 filmLiebelei (in which her mother Magda Schneider had played the same role). It was during the filming ofChristine that Schneider fell in love with French actorAlain Delon who co-starred in the film. She left West Germany to join him in Paris, and they announced their engagement in 1959.[19]
Schneider and West German chancellorWilly Brandt (1971)
In 1964, Delon broke up with Schneider to marryNathalie Barthélémy as he got her pregnant, and they had a son together,Anthony Delon. Delon divorced Barthélémy in 1969, after which he kept pursuing Schneider, but she always refused to get back together. However, they remained close lifelong friends and continued to work together in such films asLa Piscine (The Swimming Pool, 1968) andThe Assassination of Trotsky (1972).
Schneider continued to work in France during the 1970s, most notably with directorClaude Sautet on five films. Their first collaboration,The Things of Life (Les choses de la vie, 1970) featuringMichel Piccoli, made Schneider an icon in France. The three collaborated again for thenoir thrillerMax et les ferrailleurs (Max and the Junkmen, 1971), and she appeared withYves Montand in Sautet'sCésar et Rosalie (1972).
Schneider portrayed a more mature and realistic Elisabeth of Austria inLudwig (1973), Visconti's film about the life of KingLudwig II of Bavaria."Sissi sticks to me just like oatmeal", Schneider once said.[20]
On 30 October 1974, Schneider was the second guest onDietmar Schönherr's talk showJe später der Abend [de] (The Later the Evening) when she, after a rather terse interview, remarked passionately to the last guest, bank robber and authorBurkhard Driest: "Sie gefallen mir. Sie gefallen mir sehr." (I like you. I like you a lot.)[22][23][24]
After seeing her performance inLudwig[citation needed], U.S. filmmakerMichael Cimino wanted Schneider to star as the female lead in his political love storyPerfect Strangers. She would have starred alongsideRoy Scheider andOskar Werner. The film, however, was ultimately cancelled after several weeks of pre-production shooting because of "political machinations".[25][26]
She also acted inThe Infernal Trio (1974) withMichel Piccoli, and inGarde à vue (1981) withMichel Serrault andLino Ventura. An unpleasant incident occurred during this period with leading German film directorRainer Werner Fassbinder, who wanted to cast her as the lead in his filmThe Marriage of Maria Braun (1979). Negotiations broke down when he called Schneider a "dumb cow",[27] to which she responded by declaring she would never work with such a "beast".[28] Fassbinder castHanna Schygulla instead, reviving his professional association with an actress to whom he had likewise been offensive.[27]
Schneider starred inBertrand Tavernier'sDeath Watch (La mort en direct, 1980), playing a dying woman whose last days are watched on national television via a camera implanted in the brain of a journalist (Harvey Keitel). It is based onDavid G. Compton's novel. Schneider's last film wasLa Passante du Sans-Souci (The Passerby, 1982).
Following the end of her relationship with Delon in 1964, Schneider married German director and actorHarry Meyen in July 1966; they divorced in 1975.[29] They had a son, David Christopher (1966–1981). David died in July 1981, at the age of 14, after attempting to climb the spiked fence at his stepfather's parents' home and puncturing hisfemoral artery in the process.[30] Schneider had affairs withWilly Brandt,Louis Malle (1963),[31]Sammy Davis Jr. (1964),Oswalt Kolle (1964),[32]Giovanni Volpi (1964–1970s),Luis Miguel Dominguín (1970s) and actorBruno Ganz (early 1970s).[33][34][35][36] She also had an affair withJorge Guinle (1965), who said that Schneider was the great love of his life.[37][38] She had a brief affair withJean-Louis Trintignant while filmingThe Train (1973).[39] She also had in 1974 a brief affair withJacques Dutronc while filmingThat Most Important Thing: Love.[40]
Schneider appeared as one of 28 women under the banner "We've had abortions!" (German:Wir haben abgetrieben!) on the cover page of the West German magazineStern on 6 June 1971. In that issue, 374 women publicly stated that they had had pregnancies terminated, which at that time was illegal.[41]
In 1975, Schneider marriedDaniel Biasini [fr], her private secretary; they divorced in 1981. Their daughter,Sarah, is an actress. Schneider’s last romantic partner was film producerLaurent Pétin [fr] (born 1949).[42]
In her 2018 biographyRomy Schneider intime,Alice Schwarzer stated that Schneider confided to her that she had sexual relationships with women and was deeply in love with her close friendSimone Signoret.[43]
Grave of Romy Schneider and her son in Boissy-sans-Avoir
Schneider was found dead in her Paris apartment on 29 May 1982. Theexamining magistrateLaurent Davenas [fr] declared that she had died fromcardiac arrest.[44] Claude Pétin said that Schneider's cardiac arrest was due to a weakened heart caused by a kidney operation she had had months before.[45] Schneider began drinking alcohol excessively after her son's death. However, Schneider's friend and sister-in-law of Laurent Pétin, Claude Pétin, said that she no longer drank at the time of her death[45] and that she was convinced it was a natural death.[42]
A movie about Schneider's life, titledEine Frau wie Romy/Une femme comme Romy (A Woman Like Romy), was planned byWarner Bros. for 2009; Schneider's role was going to be played byYvonne Catterfeld.[52][53] The project was cancelled in July 2009.[54] A musical about Schneider,Romy – Die Welt aus Gold (Romy – The Golden World) was premiered in 2009 at the TheaterHeilbronn.[55] In November 2009, theARD broadcast the feature filmRomy [de] withJessica Schwarz in the title role.[56] The film3 Days in Quiberon (2018) byEmily Atef describes a 1981 episode in Schneider's life in the French town ofQuiberon.[57]
On 23 September 2020,Google celebrated her 82nd birthday with aGoogle Doodle in Germany, France, Austria, Iceland and Ukraine.[58]
The culture broadcasterArte dedicated a documentary to Romy Schneider andAlain Delon:Romy and Alain – The Eternal Betrothed, 2022.[59]
^Segrave, Kerry (1990).The Continental Actress European Film Stars of the Postwar Era--biographies, Criticism, Filmographies, Bibliographies. McFarland.ISBN9780899505107.
^"Biography" (in French). pipole.net. Archived fromthe original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved28 October 2007.Romy témoignant par la suite de l'intérêt malsain qu'il lui portait.
^"Biography and career" (in Dutch). SeniorPlaza.nl. Retrieved28 October 2007.waarvan Romy later aangaf dat hij een ongezonde belangstelling voor haar had
^Gretter, Susanne."Biography" (in German and French). FemBio Frauen-Biographieforschung e.V. Retrieved28 October 2007.Il a clairement proposé de coucher avec moi.
^Alice Schwarzer (2018).Romy Schneider intime (in French). L'Archipel. p. 104.ISBN9782809824988. Translation ofRomy Schneider: Mythos und Leben (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2008)
Tast, Hans-Jürgen (2008).Romy Schneider: ein Leben auf Titelseiten; [anlässlich des 70. Geburtstags der Schauspielerin Romy Schneider] [Romy Schneider: a life on front pages; [on the occasion of the 70th birthday of actress Romy Schneider]]. Kulleraugen (in German). Vol. 36. Schellerten: Kulleraugen-Medienschriften. p. 33.ISBN978-3-88842-036-8.
