Helmut Berger

Helmut Berger - Austrian born film actor, mostly known for starring in
Luchino Visconti's films, which are now
considered modern classics. Born Helmut Steinberger in Salzburg in
1944, he turned down a prospect of running a family hotel business and
went to London where he worked as waiter to pay his way through drama
school. Later he attended the University of Perugia in Italy and spent
some time in France. His acting career began with French and Italian
commercials and showed no signs of progress until he was picked up by
Luchino Visconti out of pool of
"extras" during the shooting of
Sandra (1965)
in 1964. Berger's relationships with Visconti, whose partner he
remained for 12 years, brought him to the attention of press and
allowed him to act in some Visconti's films such as
The Damned (1969), Ludwig (1973) and
Conversation Piece (1974). Visconti is said to view Berger as the very
image of his idea of a "demonic, insane and sexually perverted" man. As
a matter of fact Berger often portrayed anguished souls and sinister
villains. His acting career continued throughout the 1970s but was
temporarily broken up in the early 80s when he battled alcohol problem.
He appeared in numerous French, Italian, German films and spent one
season on American soap
Dynasty (1981) but few directors used
his gifts with the same skill as Visconti. His autobiography "Ich"
(Me), in which he famously referred to his relationships with Visconti
as "marriage" and claimed to be the director's widow, appeared in 1998.
Berger is still very active appearing in TV series regularly. He also
very modestly attributed his acting achievements to Visconti's
directing.