Berry Berenson | |
|---|---|
 Berenson in 1971 | |
| Born | Berinthia Berenson April 14, 1948 New York City, US |
| Died | September 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 53) New York City, US |
| Cause of death | Plane crash as part of theSeptember 11 attacks |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1960s–2001 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Oz Perkins Elvis Perkins |
| Relatives | Elsa Schiaparelli (grandmother) Marisa Berenson (sister) |
Berinthia "Berry"Berenson-Perkins (néeBerenson; April 14, 1948 – September 11, 2001) was an American actress, model and photographer. She was the wife of actorAnthony Perkins.
She died in theSeptember 11 attacks, as a passenger onAmerican Airlines Flight 11. It crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Berinthia Berenson, nicknamed "Berry", was born inMurray Hill, Manhattan, New York City. Her mother was born Maria-Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, better known asGogo Schiaparelli, a socialite of Italian, Swiss, & French ancestry.[1] Her father, Robert Lawrence Berenson, was an American career diplomat turned shipping executive. He was ofRussian-Jewish andPolish-Jewish descent, and his family's original surname was Valvrojenski.[2][3][4]
Her elder sister,Marisa Berenson, became a well-known model and actress. Their maternal grandmother was Italian-born fashion designerElsa Schiaparelli,[5] and her maternal grandfather was Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor, aTheosophist andpsychic medium.[1][6][7] The Berenson sisters were also great-grandnieces ofGiovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer who believed he had discoveredcanals on Mars, and a second cousin, once removed, of art expertBernard Berenson (1865–1959), and his sisterSenda Berenson (1868–1954), an athlete and educator who was one of the first two women elected to theBasketball Hall of Fame.[8]
Following a brief modeling career in the late 1960s, Berenson became a freelance photographer. In 1972, Berenson's fiancéRichard Bernstein was hired as the cover artist forAndy Warhol'sInterview magazine.[9] Berenson would recruit models for the cover and photograph them, and Bernstein illustrated the images.[10] By 1973, her photographs had been published inLife,Glamour,Vogue andNewsweek.[11]
Berenson studied acting at New York'sThe American Place Theatre withWynn Handman along withRichard Gere,Philip Anglim,Penelope Milford,Robert Ozn,Ingrid Boulting and her sister Marisa.
As an actress, Berenson starred opposite her husbandAnthony Perkins in the 1978Alan Rudolph filmRemember My Name. She also appeared withJeff Bridges in the 1979 filmWinter Kills, and withMalcolm McDowell inCat People (1982).
Berenson was engaged to artistRichard Bernstein.[12] In 1972, Berenson had an affair with actorAnthony Perkins and they married on August 9, 1973, inWellfleet, Massachusetts while she was three months pregnant.[10] The couple raised two sons: actor-directorOz Perkins and folk/rock singer-songwriterElvis Perkins.[13] They remained married until Perkins died fromAIDS-related complications on September 12, 1992.[14][15][16]
Berenson died on September 11, 2001, a day before the ninth anniversary of Perkins' death, as she was returning home to Los Angeles from a vacation onCape Cod. She and the other passengers and crew aboardAmerican Airlines Flight 11 died when the plane was hijacked and deliberately crashed into theNorth Tower of theWorld Trade Center during theSeptember 11 attacks on the US. Her remains were never found.[17]
At theNational September 11 Memorial & Museum, Berenson's name is inscribed on Panel N-76 at the North Pool.[18]
Media related toBerry Berenson at Wikimedia Commons
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