Christine Kaufmann
Christine Kaufmann | |
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Born | Christine Maria Kaufmann 11 January 1945 |
Occupation(s) | Actress, author, businesswoman |
Years active | 1952–present |
Spouse | |
Children |
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Christine Maria Kaufmann (born 11 January 1945) is a German actress, author, and businesswoman. The daughter of a German father and a French mother, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress in 1961, the first German to be so honoured. Christine Kaufmann has been called the "most beautiful grandmother in Germany".[1][2][3]
Life and career
She was born in Lengdorf, Styria, Austria, then part of Nazi Germany. Her mother, Geneviève Kaufmann (née Gavaert), was a French make-up artist; her father, Johannes Kaufmann, was a German Air Force officer and engineer.[4] Christine Kaufmann also has Circassian ancestry.[5]
Growing up in Munich, Bavaria, Kaufmann became a ballerina at the Munich Opera. She started her film career at the age of seven in the 1952 adaptation of The White Horse Inn. The film which brought her fame was Rose-Girl Resli, released in 1954, when she was only nine. She gained international recognition when she starred with Steve Reeves in The Last Days of Pompeii (1959) and with Kirk Douglas in Town Without Pity (1961). The following year she appeared in Escape from East Berlin.
In 1963, Kaufmann married Tony Curtis, whom she had met during the filming of Taras Bulba (1962). They had two daughters, Alexandra (born 19 July 1964) and Allegra (born 11 July 1966). They divorced in 1968. Kaufmann resumed her career, which she had interrupted during her marriage.((cn))
On German TV, Kaufmann has admitted to having an affair with Warren Beatty.[6][7]
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 languages: German, English, and French.
Kaufmann enjoys travelling. She moves from one place to another frequently—a pattern that she believes to have inherited from her Circassian forefathers.[5] She currently divides her time between Hamburg and Munich.
Selected filmography
- The White Horse Inn (1952)
- Salto Mortale (1953)
- Rose-Girl Resli (1954)
- The Winemaker of Langenlois (1957)
- Mädchen in Uniform (1958)
- First Love (1959)
- The Last Days of Pompeii (1959)
- Toto, Fabrizi and the Young People Today (1960)
- The Last Pedestrian (1960)
- Town Without Pity (1961)
- Via Mala (1961)
- A Man Named Rocca (1961)
- Constantine and the Cross (1961)
- The Phony American (1961)
- Escape from East Berlin (1962)
- Terror After Midnight (1962)
- Taras Bulba (1962)
- Swordsman of Siena (1962)
- Wild and Wonderful (1964)
- Love Birds (1969)
- Das Bastardzeichen (1970, TV film)
- Wie ein Blitz (1970, TV miniseries)
- Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
- Der Kommissar: Traum eines Wahnsinnigen (1972, TV)
- Der Tod der Maria Malibran (1972)
- Willow Springs (1973)
- World on a Wire (1973, TV film)
- Zum Abschied Chrysanthemen (1974)
- Auf Biegen oder Brechen (1976)
- Derrick - Season 4, Episode 02: "Hals in der Schlinge" (1977, TV)
- Red Rings of Fear (1978)
- Der ganz normale Wahnsinn (1979, TV series)
- Egon Schiele – Exzess und Bestrafung (1980)
- Day of the Idiots (1981)
- Lili Marleen (1981)
- Lola (1981)
- Monaco Franze – Der ewige Stenz (1982, TV series)
- The Roaring Fifties (1983)
- Bagdad Café (1988)
- Hard to Be a God (1989)
- Wenn das die Nachbarn wüßten (1990, TV series)
- Im Namen des Gesetzes: Dunkle Ahnung (2008, TV)
References
- ^ Kaufmann, Christine (2012). "Der Sex-Appeal der schönsten Großmutter Deutschlands". ChristineKaufmann. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ Kraft, Katja (2015). "Christine Kaufmann – Deutschlands schönste Oma wird 70" [Christine Kaufmann – Germany's most beautiful grandmother turns 70]. Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "Deutschlands berühmte Großmütter" [Germany's famous grandmothers]. Die Welt (in German). Berlin. 11 June 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "Das Doppelleben der Christine Kaufmann" [The double life of Christine Kaufmann]. RP Online (in German). Frankfurt am Main. 2005. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ a b Hinkofer, Christine (2014). "Christine Kaufmann: Die Lust und Last zu reisen" (Interview). Interviewed by Christine Kaufmann. Munich. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ Lafer! Lichter! Lecker! ZDF, November 1, 2014.
- ^ von Mutius, Franziska (2014). "Christine Kaufmann schreibt Hollywood-Affären" [Christine Kaufmann writes Hollywood affairs]. Bild (in German). Berlin. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
External links
- 1945 births
- Cosmetics businesspeople
- German ballerinas
- German businesspeople
- German child actresses
- German film actresses
- German people of Austrian descent
- German people of Circassian descent
- German people of French descent
- German television actresses
- Living people
- New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners
- People from Styria