Christine Maria Kaufmann, Actress and Ex-Wife of Tony Curtis, Dies at 72
Christine Maria Kaufmann, the German-Austrian actress who won a Golden Globe at 17, married Tony Curtis at 18 and had a second career as beauty and cosmetics magnate, died Monday after a long battle with leukemia. She was
Kaufmann was born in Austria in to a French makeup artist and a German engineer and grew up in Munich. She entered show business early, performing in the German musical The White Horse Inn at the age of 7. But it was Rose Girl, a drama, where she played the orphan child of the title, that launched her career.
A series of Bavarian melodramas followed before she got her international break, starring in The Last Days of Pompeii () alongside Hercules actor Steve Reeves. Several Hollywood roles followed, including, in , Town Without Pity with Kirk Douglas, and TarasBulba, a Romeo & Juliet story set in 16th century Ukraine that also starred Curtis.
Kaufmann and Curtis married a year later (after his first marriage to actress Janet Leigh ended). She was 18, he was They had two daughters, Alexandra and Allegra, who became actresses, before divorcing in
Years later,
Born in Austria to a French mother and a German father, young Christine Kaufmann conquered the hearts of post-war German movie audiences in movies like Der schweigende Engel (), Ein Herz schlägt für Erika () and, most famously, Rosen-Resli (). Discovered at the tender age of six, Christine was soon the breadwinner for her family. This quickly changed when puberty destroyed her blooming career as "the sweet innocent child" in West Germany. Her ambitious mother, by now Christine's manager, relocated to Rome with her. In Italy, her Lolita-like qualities were appreciated and used in movies like The Last Days of Pompeii () in which, at age 13, she played the love-interest of "Mr. Universe" Steve Reeves (then 32). Due to her hard work as a child (between and she starred in 18 films!), she was never able to attend school; yet, by the age of 14, young Christine was fluent in German, French, Italian, Spanish and English.
In , Christine headed to London to audition for the role of Karen in Exodus (). Director Otto Preminger chose Jill Haworth over Kaufmann but was still so impressed with her that he recommended her for a substantial part in Gottfried Reinhardt&#
Christine Kaufmann
Christine Kaufmann was one of Germany's most beloved and successful actresses throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Born on January 11, in Lengdorf, Styria, Austria, to a French make-up artist and an officer in the German Luftwaffe, Kaufmann grew up in Munich, where she began her entertainment career at a young age.
After getting her start as a ballerina with the Munich Opera, Kaufmann made her first film appearance at age 7 with a small part in "The White Horse Inn" (). She got her first big break in her home country with the starring role in "Rose-Girl Resli" (), before a string of international successes followed, including "The Last Days of Pompeii" (), alongside Steve Reeves, and perhaps her most well-known film, the Kirk Douglas drama "Town Without Pity" ().
Kaufmann made even more headlines when she married Tony Curtis in , at the tender age of They had two children before divorcing in Kaufmann would go on to have three more marriages: TV director Achim Lenz (), musician and actor Reno Eckstein (), and artist Klaus Zey ().
Later in life, Kaufmann also admitted to having an affair with noted Hollywood lothario Warren Beatty. Throughout
Christine Kaufmann
Christine Maria Kaufmann (born January 11, ) is a German actress. In she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress, the only German to be so honoured. Born to a German father and a French mother in Lengdorf, Styria, Kaufmann became a ballerina at the Munich Opera. She started her film career at the age of seven in the adaptation of Im weißen Rößl (White Horse Inn).
The film which brought her fame was Rosen-Resli, released in , when she was only nine. She gained international recognition when she starred with Steve Reeves in The Last Days of Pompeii () and with Kirk Douglas in Town Without Pity (). The following year she appeared in Escape from East Berlin. In Kaufmann married Tony Curtis, whom she had met during the filming of Taras Bulba ().
They had two daughters, Alexandra (born July 19, ) and Allegra (born July 11, ). They divorced in Kaufmann resumed her career, which she had interrupted during her marriage. Kaufmann is also a successful businesswoman, promoting her own cosmetics products line that sells well in Germany. She has written several books about beauty and health, as well as two autobiographies.
She speaks three lan
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