- Senta Berger
Infobox actor
name = Senta Berger
imagesize = 100px
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1941|5|13
location =Vienna ,Austria
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
yearsactive =
spouse =Michael Verhoeven
homepage =
notable role =
academyawards =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =Senta Berger (born
May 13 ,1941 ) is anAustria n actress and producer, born inVienna .Berger's parents were not rich, but they tried everything to meet the desires of their daughter. Her father was a musician. Senta 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, but her dream of a career as a dancer was destroyed when her teacher did not like the physical changes in Senta duringpuberty .Berger then took private acting lessons. In 1957, she won her first small role in a film. She applied for the Max Reinhardt Seminar, a famous acting school in Vienna, and was accepted. However, shortly afterwards she was forced to leave, because she had accepted a film role without permission. In 1958, she became the youngest member of the
Josefstadt Theatre in Vienna. Her ambition endured to be a film actress.More and more directors and producers wanted to work with her, for example
Bernhard Wicki andArthur Brauner , who produced the film "The Good Soldier Schweijk" with Berger and the German actorHeinz Rühmann . Brauner used Senta Berger in several films, but she soon tired of musicals. In 1962, she went toHollywood and worked with stars such asCharlton Heston ,Frank Sinatra ,Richard Widmark ,John Wayne , andYul Brynner . She returned to Germany to accept an offer for a series role, which would have brought an obligation of several years.In 1963, Berger met
Michael Verhoeven , son of the German film director Paul Verhoeven (not the DutchPaul Verhoeven ). They started their own film production company in 1965. In 1966, Senta and Michael married. In 1970, she starred for the first time in a film produced by her own company and directed by her husband. Other internationally successful films made by the duo included, amongst others, "Die weiße Rose", "The Terrible Girl" ("Das schreckliche Mädchen") and "Mutters Courage". Berger continued to develop her European career inFrance andItaly .In 1966, Berger co-starred with
Kirk Douglas in the movie "Cast a Giant Shadow ". Berger played the role of Magda, a soldier in the army ofIsrael during theIsraeli War of Independence (1948). The birth of her two sons caused Senta to turn back to theatre work. She successfully played at theBurgtheater in Vienna, at theThaliatheater inHamburg and at theSchillertheater inBerlin . Between 1974 and 1982, she played the “Buhlschaft” in the play "Jedermannn" at theSalzburg Festival withCurd Jürgens andMaximilian Schell . One of her greatest movie roles of the period was co-starring with Schell andJames Coburn and in the acclaimed war movie "Cross of Iron " (1977). In 1985−86, Berger started a comeback in front of German-speaking audiences in the very popular TV serial "Kir Royal". Afterwards further serial hits followed, like "The Fast Gerti", where she plays a taxi driver.In the same year, she also started a career as a singer of
Chanson s. 2005 saw her in a beautiful and sad film, "Einmal so wie ich will", as a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage who finds but turns her back on love when on holiday.Since February 2003, Senta Berger has been president of the
German Film Academy , which seeks to advance the new generation of actors and actresses in Germany and Europe. The Academy will decide the assignment of the German Film Awards in the future.In the spring of 2006, her
autobiography was published inGermany : "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 being called "You German pig" on her first day on the set ofMajor Dundee by a gaffer whose wife had lost her family inAuschwitz .External links
*imdb name|0000919
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sentaberger-links Senta Berger-links] (Yahoo group)
* [http://www.faz.net/s/Rub8A25A66CA9514B9892E0074EDE4E5AFA/Doc~E20FAB2187CFE4C97B4FCFE108BA41123~ATpl~Ecommon~Sprintpage.html Interview in the FAZ newspaper on her autobiography] (in German)Persondata
NAME= Berger, Senta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1941-5-13
PLACE OF BIRTH=Vienna ,Austria
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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