Senta Berger | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Berger in 2017 | |
| Born | (1941-05-13)13 May 1941 (age 84) Vienna, Austria |
| Other names | Senta Verhoeven |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1955–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 (includingSimon Verhoeven) |
| Relatives |
|
Senta Verhoeven[1] (néeBerger;Austrian German:[ˈzɛntaˈbɛʁɡɐ]ⓘ,German:[ˈzɛntaˈbɛʁɡɐ]ⓘ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian[2] actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film, and television; her awards include threeBambi Awards, twoRomys, anAdolf Grimme Award, both aDeutscher Fernsehpreis and aBayerischer Fernsehpreis, and aGoldene Kamera.
Berger was born in Vienna during the Second World War to musicianJosef Berger [de] (1902–1983) and teacher Therese Jany.[3] She first appeared on stage at the age of four, when her father accompanied her singing on the piano. At the age of five, she started ballet lessons.
Berger also took private acting lessons. In 1957, she landed a small first role inThe Unexcused Hour, one of the final films directed byWilli Forst. She was accepted to theMax Reinhardt Seminar, a Viennese acting school, but left shortly afterwards after accepting a film role without permission. In 1958, she became the youngest member of theJosefstadt Theatre in Vienna and appeared in productions ofL'Œuf,Charley's Aunt,Much Ado About Nothing', andCat on a Hot Tin Roof.[4]
In 1960,Bernhard Wicki andArtur Brauner produced the comedy filmThe Good Soldier Schweik with Berger and German actorHeinz Rühmann. Brauner used Berger in several films, but she soon tired of musicals. In 1962, she went toHollywood and worked with stars such asCharlton Heston,Dean Martin,Frank Sinatra,Richard Widmark,John Wayne,Kirk Douglas, andYul Brynner. She returned to Germany to accept an offer for a role in a series, which would have included an obligation of several years. Early publicity material compared her toBrigitte Bardot andSophia Loren.[4]
In 1963, Berger metMichael Verhoeven, son of German film directorPaul Verhoeven (not to be confused with the NetherlandsPaul Verhoeven). In November 1964, she guest-starred in an episode of the U.S. television showThe Man from U.N.C.L.E, entitled "The Double Affair". It was later expanded and released in cinemas as the feature filmThe Spy with My Face (1965). Also in 1965, she starred inThe Glory Guys, a dramatic representation of Custer's Little Big Horn disaster, based on the novelThe Dice of God by Hoffman Birney. Filmed by Levy-Gardner-Laven and released by United Artists, it stars Tom Tryon, Harve Presnell, Senta Berger, James Caan, and Michael Anderson, Jr. Berger and Verhoeven started their own film production company in 1965, and married in 1966. Berger continued to develop her European career in France and Italy.
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In 1966, Berger co-starred with Kirk Douglas in the filmCast a Giant Shadow. Berger played the role of Magda, a soldier in the Israeli army during the1948 Arab–Israeli War. Also in 1966, the British filmOur Man in Marrakesh, calledBang, Bang, You're Dead in the U.S., was released, starring Senta Berger oppositeTony Randall. InThe Quiller Memorandum, a third film of hers released in 1966, she played oppositeMax von Sydow andGeorge Segal in the role of a German schoolteacher involved inneo-Nazi activity. In 1967, Berger acted in the pilot film for theRobert Wagner television seriesIt Takes a Thief, which aired on the U.S. television networkABC on 9 January 1968. She reprised her role in the series in October 1969, in an episode in which her character was killed.
In 1970, Berger starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband. Other internationally successful films made by their joint production company included,Die weiße Rose (1982),The Nasty Girl (1990) andMy Mother's Courage [de] (1995). In 1971, Berger participated in the media campaign "We've had abortions!" launched by German feministAlice Schwarzer with a cover story in theStern political magazine. In 1972, she also campaigned forWilly Brandt'sSocial Democratic Party.
Following the birth of her first son, Berger soon returned to theatre work. She played at theBurgtheater in Vienna, at theThalia Theater in Hamburg, and at theSchiller Theater in Berlin. Between 1974 and 1982, she played the Buhlschaft in the playJedermann at theSalzburg Festival withCurd Jürgens andMaximilian Schell. She also acted alongside Schell andJames Coburn in a supporting role in the acclaimed war filmCross of Iron (1977). In 1977, she was head of the jury at the27th Berlin International Film Festival.[5] Twenty-one years later, she was part of the jury at the48th Berlin International Film Festival.[6]
In 1985 and 1986, Berger started a comeback for German-speaking audiences in the TV serialKir Royal. Further serial hits followed, includingDie schnelle Gerdi (The Fast Gerdi, 1989–2002), in which she played a taxi driver. In the same year, she also began a singing career. From 2003 to 2010, Berger was president of theGerman Film Academy, which seeks to support the careers of actors and actresses in Germany and across Europe.[citation needed] Since 2005, the academy assigns the annualGerman Film Awards, orLolas.
In 2005 she appeared in the film,Einmal so wie ich will (Once According to My Will), as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage, who finds love on holiday, but turns her back on the relationship. In 2016, she played one of the leading roles in the filmWelcome to Germany, written and directed by her sonSimon Verhoeven. The film grossed more than US$20 million, making it the most successful German picture of the year.[7] It also won numerous awards, among them theDeutscher Filmpreis, the peace award Friedenspreis des deutschen Films, and was nominated for aEuropean Film Award for Best Comedy.
She played the role of Doctor Eva Maria Prohacek in the popular German crime television seriesUnter Verdacht (Under Suspicion) from 2002 till March 2020, when she retired from the role.[8]
In June 2023, her romantic dramedyRemember Me [de] (Weißt du noch; screenplay by Martin Rauhaus, directed byRainer Kaufmann) premiered at the 40thFilmfest München.
For her second screen collaboration with her writer/director son Simon Verhoeven will be in the bestseller adaptation ofJoachim Meyerhoff'sAch, diese Lücke, diese entsetzliche Lücke. Berger is playing the female lead in this film, which will be released byWarner Bros. in 2026.
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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). Among her memories of Hollywood are a less-than-subtle attempt byDarryl Zanuck to get her on hiscasting couch, and of all the shallow people she met in Hollywood.
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Berger was married to German film directorMichael Verhoeven from 1966 until his death in 2024; their sons are actor-director Simon Verhoeven (born 1972) and actor/producer Luca Verhoeven (born 1979). She lives in Germany.[9]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color:The Waltz King [de] | Henriette Treffz | |
| 1964 | The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Double Affair | Serena | (TV series, 1 episode) |
| See How They Run | Orlando Miller | ||
| 1968 | The Name of the Game | Mariette Bern | 1x04 Collectors' Edition |
| It Takes a Thief: A Thief Is a Thief | Claire Vickers | (TV series, 1 episode) | |
| Istanbul Express [de] | Mila Darvos | ||
| Babeck [de] | Susanne Stefan | (TV miniseries, 3 episodes) | |
| 1969 | It Takes a Thief: Flowers from Alexander | Claire Vickers/Laurie James | (TV series, 1 episode) |
| 1976 | Perry Como's Christmas in Austria | Guest star as Herself | (TV Holiday special show) |
| 1986 | Kir Royal | Mona | (TV series, 6 episodes) |
| 1989 | Die schnelle Gerdi | Gerdi | (TV series, 6 episodes) |
| 1990 | La belle Anglaise | (TV series, 1 episode) | |
| 1992 | Sie und Er [de] | Charlotte | |
| Lilli Lottofee [de] | Lilli | (TV series, 6 episodes) | |
| 1994 | Captive Love | Anneliese | |
| 1994–1996 | Ärzte [de]: Dr. Schwarz und Dr. Martin | Dr. Margarethe Martin | (TV series, 8 episodes) |
| 1995 | Die Nacht der Nächte[10] | Teresa | |
| Kommissar Rex | Karla Wilke | (TV series, 1 episode) | |
| 1996 | Mein Sohn ist kein Mörder! | Sarah Renzi | |
| 1997 | Kap der Rache | Lilian | |
| Lamorte [de] | Susa | ||
| Bella Ciao | Teresa | ||
| 1998 | Mammamia [de] | Clara | |
| 1999 | Liebe und weitere Katastrophen | Franziska Ackermann | (TV miniseries, 4 episodes) |
| Nancherrow | Alex Gower | ||
| At Fifty Men Kiss Differently [de] | Marie Mechlenburg | ||
| 2000 | Zimmer mit Frühstück | Elisabeth | |
| Trennungsfieber | Dr. Carla Severin-Bauer | ||
| Scharf aufs Leben [de] | Solveigh Kronberg | ||
| Probieren Sie's mit einem Jüngeren [de] | Anna | ||
| 2002–2019 | Unter Verdacht | Dr. Eva-Maria Prohacek | (TV series, 30 episodes) |
| 2002 | Bis dass dein Tod uns scheidet | Edith Mosbach | |
| 2004 | Die schnelle Gerdi und die Hauptstadt | Gerdi | (TV series, 6 episodes) |
| Die Konferenz [de] | Cornelia Cordes | ||
| 2005 | Einmal so wie ich will [de] | Emma Bauer | |
| Emilia – Die zweite Chance | Dr. Emilia Seiler | ||
| Emilia – Familienbande | Dr. Emilia Seiler | ||
| 2006 | Nette Nachbarn küsst man nicht [de] | Helga Forstmann | |
| 2008 | Rosamunde Pilcher: Four Seasons | Julia Combe | (TV miniseries, 4 episodes) |
| 2009 | Sleepless [de] | Carla Sagmeister | |
| Frau Böhm sagt Nein [de] | Rita Böhm | ||
| Mama kommt! [de] | Luise Fischer | ||
| 2010 | Liebe am Fjord: Das Ende der Eiszeit | Pernille | (TV series, 1 episode) |
| 2011 | In the Prime of Life [de] | Erika Welves | |
| 2012 | Operation Sugar [de] | Dorothee Lessing | (TV thriller) |
| Hochzeiten [de] | Klara | ||
| 2013 | Und alle haben geschwiegen [de] | Luisa Hamilton | (TV drama) |
| Welcome to the Countryside! [de] | Rita | (TV drama) | |
| 2014 | Autumn Tingles: Speed Dating for Silver Hairs [de] | Maria Koppel | (TV film) |
| 2020 | Tommy und Martha [de] | Martha | (TV drama) |
| 2021 | An seiner Seite | Charlotte Kler | (TV Drama) |
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