Happy 67th birthday to Marisa Berenson. This New York born multilingual beauty, originally a model, has been around forever and in key films, too. Her film career couldn't sustain its major start but few careers could have. Consider that in her first decade acting she made Death in Venice (1971), Cabaret (1972), Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975) and Blake Edwards S.O.B. (1981). Tough acts to follow, no? She was never prolific, opting for the occasional TV guest spot and films here and there in various countries, but that face -- memorable and impossibly beautiful.
According to IMDb she was rumored for a Vivien Leigh biopic in the 1970s (and wouldn't that be both a challenge and a coup for the right actress?) but the film sadly never materialized.
More of the impossible beauty [nsfw] of Marisa Berenson after the jump...
with Tilda on the set of I Am Love
We most recently saw Berenson pop up in a surprising and perfect supporting part in the masterful I Am Love (2010) as Tilda Swinton's chilly sunglass-wearing mother-in-law and I had the pleasure of seeing her live at the Cabaret anniversary screening here in NYC last year with Liza (supposedly they're best friends), Michael York, and Joel Grey all in attendance.
in Barry Lyndon (1975)
in Cabaret (1972)
Marisa and her sister, via director Joel Schumacher
Photographed by Tom Ford
Photographed by Michael Holtz
photographed by Irving Penn in 1971
she recreates the photo in 2011 for a new photographer
and supermodel Christy Turlington made up to look like Marisa Berenson by makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin
And thanks to Mike for reminding me of one of my all time favorite Muppet Show skits when I was a child. Starring Marisa Berenson. Enjoy...
WHAT'S NEXT? She has two more pictures in the can though we have no idea when we'll see them. One is a French musical called Opium (2013) and the other a new Emma Thompson picture, Love Punch (2014), from the director of the underrated romantic drama Last Chance, Harvey (2008).