The Austrian actor Helmut Berger (“The Damned”) is dead. He died in Salzburg on Thursday at the age of 78, according to his agency.
Salzburg – The Austrian actor Helmut Berger (“The Damned”) is dead. He died in Salzburg on Thursday at the age of 78, as his agency announced.
“Helmut Berger passed away today, May 18, 2023 at 4:00 a.m. peacefully but unexpectedly in his hometown of Salzburg, shortly before his 79th birthday! We thank you for all the many years of friendship and cooperation,” it said on the agency’s website.
Helmuit Berger is dead: acting legend dies in Salzburg
In 1964 Berger worked as a film extra in Rome before the famous director Visconti, who was 38 years his senior and later became his partner, discovered him. In 1966 he gave Berger a small part for the first time, and soon afterward the Austrian played his most haunting roles under Visconti’s direction.
Berger shines in “The Damned”, in “Ludwig II.” he plays the insane King of Bavaria. In “Violence and Passion” he plays a provocative, beautiful young man alongside Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster.
In the years that followed, Berger increasingly drew on his past, he made a name for himself more with appearances on talk shows than with his acting performances.
His agency’s website now says: “Many years ago, Helmut Berger said to me: ‘I’ve lived three lives. And in 4 languages! Je ne regrette rien!”