Entertainment duo the Kessler twins die by assisted suicide, aged 89
Alice and Ellen Kessler reached the height of their fame in the 1950s and 1960s.
By Issy Ronald, Stephanie Halasz, CNN
(CNN) — Alice and Ellen Kessler, the German twins who rose to fame in the 1950s as a variety entertainment duo, have died at the age of 89 by joint assisted suicide, advocacy organization the German Society for Humane Dying (DGHS) said on Tuesday.
Local police confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that “there was a deployment yesterday lunchtime in Gruenwald” – the leafy suburb of Munich where the twins lived – but did not say the reason for that deployment.
The twins contacted the DGHS, which provides access to lawyers and doctors, more than a year ago and became members, the organization told CNN on Tuesday.
“The decisive factor is likely to have been the desire to die together on a specific date,” DGHS spokesperson Wega Wetzel told CNN, adding that she wasn’t aware of the precise reasons given by each woman.
“Their desire to die was well-considered, long-standing, and free from any psychiatric crisis,” Wetzel said.
They wished to have their ashes interred in the same urn too, alongside their mother Elsa and dog Yello, Ellen Kessler told German tabloid Bild last year.
Assisted dying, under certain circumstances, is legal in Germany after the country’s top court ruled in 2020 that an individual has the right to end their life and to seek help from a third party if they aren’t subject to external influences.
With their blonde, coiffed hair, long legs and talent for both singing and dancing, the Kessler twins embodied the aesthetic of the 1950s and 60s showgirl.
As children, they attended classical ballet school before fleeing East Germany in 1952 to pursue dance. Shortly after, the twins began their careers at the Lido in Paris, a venue known for its cabaret performances, but they quickly transcended that world.
They represented Germany at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, appeared several times on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” once featured on the cover of Life magazine, and moved in circles populated by the biggest stars of that era like Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Rock Hudson.
“The Ed Sullivan Show” posted a tribute to the Kessler twins on social media, remembering them as “dazzling stars, true legends, and sisters whose grace, charm, and magic will shine forever.”
Fame in Italy
The sisters soon became stars in Italy too. They made history as the first showgirls to appear on Italian television and the first female stars to show their legs on screen, according to Eurovision. However, they had to wear opaque tights due to the strict Christian conservative values of the time, state broadcaster RAI said. Nevertheless, their legs were dubbed “the legs of the country.”
And when they posed naked for the Italian edition of Playboy in 1976, it sold out in three hours, according to Eurovision’s website.
They appeared in Italian movies and in theater, achieving such widespread fame there that state broadcaster RAI released a detailed plan on Tuesday of the ways in which it would cover their deaths, both on the news and by rerunning old television shows starring them.
The sisters’ entertainment careers continued long after the era of the showgirl had waned. As well as making guest appearances on German television, they starred in a musical that played in Berlin, Munich and Vienna from 2015 to 2016.
The twins were born in a village that today belongs to Grimma, a town in Saxony.
Tino Kießig, the mayor of Grimma, said in a statement Monday that the town “mourns the loss of these two world-renowned personalities.”
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CNN’s Sharon Braithwaite contributed reporting.
