Alice Kessler

Alice Kessler

  • Birthday: 1936-08-20
  • Place of birth: Nerchau, Germany
  • Also know as: The Keller Sisters

Biography

Alice and Ellen Kessler (born 20 August 1936 in Nerchau, Saxony, Germany) are twin entertainers known in Europe, especially Germany and Italy, from the 1950s and 1960s for their singing, dancing, and acting. They are usually credited as the Kessler Twins (Die Kessler-Zwillinge in Germany and Le Gemelle Kessler in Italy), where they remain popular. The Kessler sisters enjoyed a significant degree of popularity in the US, appearing on national television programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show. The Kesslers made their American television debut on the CBS variety show, The Red Skelton Hour. They also appeared in the 1963 film Sodom and Gomorrah as dancers and were featured on the cover of Life Magazine that same year. Their parents, Paul and Elsa, sent them to ballet classes at the age of six, and they joined the Leipzig Opera's child ballet program at age 11. When they were 18, their parents used a visitor's visa to escape to West Germany, where they performed at the Palladium in Düsseldorf. They performed at The Lido in Paris between 1955 and 1960, where they met Elvis Presley, on leave from the Army on June 17, 1959, and represented West Germany in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in 8th place with Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n (Tonight we want to go dancing). They moved to Italy in 1960 and gradually moved to more serious roles. They became very popular thanks to the RAI television variety show Studio Uno (1961–1966). At the age of 40, they agreed to pose on the cover of the Italian edition of Playboy. That issue became the fastest-selling Italian Playboy to that date. They moved back to Germany in 1986 and live in Grünwald. They have received two awards from both the German and Italian governments for promoting German-Italian cooperation through their work in show business. Source: Article "Kessler Twins" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Filmography

The Magician

1960

As

Erik the Conqueror

1961

As Rama

Die lachende Dritte

1961

As Alice

The Count of Luxemburg

1957

As Fritzi

The Thursday

1964

As Self

Countess Mariza

1958

As Ilonka

Der Bettelstudent

1958

As Mira

Die Zwillinge vom Zillertal

1957

As Tänzerin

Tabarin

1958

As Self

Der Vogelhändler

1962

As Tänzerin

Dead Woman from Beverly Hills

1964

As Tiddy Sister Nr. 2

Treffpunkt Herz

1975

As Gast

Maskenball bei Scotland Yard

1963

As Kessler-Zwillinge

Complexes

1965

As Self (segment "Guglielmo il Dentone")

Sodom and Gomorrah

1962

As Dancer

Love and the Frenchwoman

1960

As La jumelle, un mannequin de publicité (L'Adultère)

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