Mell, Marisa

ACTOR (AUSTRIA)
BORN 24 Feb 1939, Graz, Steiermark - DIED 16 May 1992, Wien: Wilhelminenspital
BIRTH NAME Moitzi, Marlies Therese
CAUSE OF DEATH esophageal cancer
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Kahlenbergerdorf Friedhof, 19., Willibald Fischerweg (NT-II-6 (Ehrengrab))

Marisa Mell attended a business school before she was educated at the Gaudernak acting school in Graz. When she was eighteen years old, she entered the Max Reinhardt Seminar where she met Gertraud Jessener and Senta Berger. At that time, she chose the stage name Marisa Mel. In the 1950s she appeared in several films in Austria and Germany.

She married Henri Tucci from Switzerland in 1959 but they divorced in 1963. In the same year, she suffered facial injuries in a car accident in France. She had plastic surgery in her face and only a curl of her upper lip remained. In 1964 she became internationally known for her part in Ken Russel's "French Dressing". She moved to Italy where she was successful in a number of movies, including "Casanova '70" (1965) with Marcello Mastroianni. She was often cast as a femme fatale. During her time in Italy her love affair with the playboy and nightclub owner Pier Luigi Torri often made headlines in the tabloids.

In 1967 Vincente Minnelli gave her the title role in the musical "Mata Hari" on Broadway, but this musical failed. Her performance as Eva Kant in Mario Bava's "Danger: Diabolik" (1968) was received better. She appeared in a television production as Empress Elisabeth in 1971. The actor Stephen Boyd was her partner from 1970 to 1972. In 1976 she posed for the Italian edition of Playboy in 1976. A daughter by an unknown father was born in 1977, but she died on the same day.

During the 1980s her popularity in Italy faded and after her return to Austria she mostly worked for television. In 1991 she appeared in her last movie "I love Vienna". In 1992 she died from esophageal cancer in Vienna.

Images

The grave of Marisa Mell at the Kahlenbergdorf Friedhof, Vienna.
Picture by Androom (29 Aug 2024)

 

Sources
Marisa Mell - Wikipedia (EN)


Mellery, Xavier

Published: 11 Sep 2024
Last update: 11 Sep 2024