Christine Kaufmann

Christine Maria Kaufmann (; 11 January 1945 – 28 March 2017) was a German-Austrian 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 for Town Without Pity in 1961, the first German to be so honoured.

Life and career Kaufmann 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 Luftwaffe officer and engineer.

Growing up in Munich, Bavaria, Kaufmann became a ballerina at the Munich Opera. She began her film career at the age of seven in The White Horse Inn (1952) and appeared as a lead actress in Der schweigende Engel the same year, but gained big attention with Rose-Girl Resli in 1954. She achieved 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 and with future husband Tony Curtis in Taras Bulba.

After her divorce from Curtis, Kaufmann resumed her career which she had interrupted during her marriage. Notable roles included the Werner Fassbinder films Lili Marleen and Lola. She often worked with German director Helmut Dietl, in the satirical television series Monaco Franze. In 1987, she played a glamorous tattoo artist in the cult classic Bagdad Cafe, an offbeat comedy set in a desolate truck stop café and motel in the Mojave Desert. Her last role was Aunt Polly in the American film Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (2014), co-starring Jake T. Austin and Val Kilmer.

In her later years, Kaufmann was also a successful businesswoman; she promoted her own line of cosmetics products that sold well in Germany. From her 40s until her death, the media often called Kaufmann the "most beautiful grandmother in Germany". She wrote several books about beauty and health, as well as two autobiographies.

Personal life At age 18 in 1963, Kaufmann married her Taras Bulba co-star Tony Curtis. They had two daughters, Alexandra Theodora Dido Curtis (b. 19 July 1964) and Allegra Curtis (b. 11 July 1966). The couple divorced in 1968. Kaufmann married three more times: to television director Achim Lenz (1974–76), musician and actor Reno Eckstein (1979–1982) and illustrator Klaus Zey (1997–2011). On German television, Kaufmann admitted to having an affair with Warren Beatty.

Kaufmann enjoyed traveling. She moved from one place to another frequently. She spoke three languages: German, English, and French.

Kaufmann died of leukemia in Munich at age 72 on 28 March 2017, only a few days after she had been diagnosed with the disease.

Filmography

Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1970 Bend Sinister Mariette TV film 1970 Diana Valesco TV miniseries 1971 Gestrickte Spuren Fanny Elßler TV film 1972 Der Kommissar Eva Raßner "Traum eines Wahnsinnigen" 1973 Immobilien Jasmin Strothmann TV film 1974 Die Fälle des Herrn Konstantin Gisela Pahl "Der gußeiserne Buddha", "Bankdirektor Alba" 1975 Margret 'Labiskwee' "Vierauge" 1977 Derrick Marion Kless "Hals in der Schlinge" 1978 The Singers Nina Huf TV film 1979 Le comte de Monte-Cristo Mme. Danglars TV miniseries 1979 Joséphine ou la comédie des ambitions Mme. Hosten-Lamothe TV miniseries 1979 Der ganz normale Wahnsinn Violetta Schimpf "Drittes Kapitel", "Zweites Kapitel", "Sechstes Kapitel" 1982 Wonderful, Wonderful Times Frau von Pachthofen TV film 1983 Monaco Franze Olga Behrens Main role 1983 Inflation im Paradies Laverne Schuhmann TV film 1987 Die Insel Margit TV film 1988 Julius Caesar Portia TV film 1990–1991 Wenn das die Nachbarn wüßten Kaufhausdirektorin TV series 1993 Glückliche Reise Felicitas von Feilitz "Ibiza" 1993 Missione d'amore Valery TV miniseries 1993 Das Double Jutta Eck TV film 1994 Verliebt, verlobt, verheiratet Maja Kunert TV series 1994 Birkenhof & Lerchenau Theres TV film 1995 Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall Frau Jensen "Stubbe sieht rot" 1995 Weihnachten mit Willy Wuff II – Eine Mama für Lieschen Gräfin TV film 1996 Balko Frederike Kogel "Ein Toter zuwenig" 1997 Parkhotel Stern Oksana Olejewa "Entscheidungen" 1998 Nadja Seewald "Das Tier" 1998 Ingelore Merk TV film 1998 Für alle Fälle Stefanie Frau von Drossel "Goldene Regeln" 1999 Einsatz Hamburg Süd Frau Duenser "Trau keinem!" 2000 SOKO München Margit Finneisen "Das Rendezvous" 2003 Club der Träume – Türkei, Marmaris Adlaya TV film 2007 Die ProSieben Märchenstunde Tante Hortensie "Aschenputtel – Für eine Handvoll Tauben" 2008 Im Namen des Gesetzes Frau Meyer-Arndt "Dunkle Ahnung" 2008 Love Trip Home Marianne Forster TV film 2012 Heiter bis tödlich – Fuchs und Gans Diana Bootz "Eierdiebe" 2013 Adele Vio TV film 2013 Tiere bis unters Dach Frau von Werther "Die Millionenkatze"