Maria Schell
Maria Schell (born
January 15,
1926 in
Vienna; died
April 26,
2005 in
Preitenegg,
Carinthia) was an
Austrian actress. Born
Margarete Schell to a
Swiss author and an Austrian actress, she was the older sister of actor
Maximilian Schell, and lesser-known actors Carl Schell, and Immy (Immaculata) Schell.
She starred in such films as
Gervaise (
1956),
Le Notti Bianche (
1957),
The Brothers Karamazov (
1958) playing the role of Grushenka,
The Hanging Tree (
1959),
Cimarron (
1960), and
Superman: The Movie (
1978). She starred opposite everyone from
Yul Brynner to
Gary Cooper to
Marlon Brando. She also had three guest appearances in the television series,
Der Kommissar. Her final public appearance was at the premiere of Maximilian's
2002 documentary
My Sister Maria.
Schell was married twice, first to
Horst Hächler and later to
Veit Relin. Her daughter by her second marriage, actress
Marie Theres Kroetz-Relin (born
1966), who is married to
Bavarian playwright
Franz Xaver Kroetz, has recently made a media and Internet appearance as a spokeswoman for
housewives (
If Pigs Could Fly. Die Hausfrauenrevolution,
2004).
Burdened with old age and illness, Maria Schell lived as a recluse in
Carinthia in the
Austrian
Alps until her death from
pneumonia in
Preitenegg,
Austria on
April 26,
2005. Upon her death, Maximilian released a statement saying in part: "Towards the end of her life, she suffered silently and I never heard her complain. I admire her for that. Her death might have been for her a salvation. But not for me. She is irreplaceable."
*
Obituary: Maria Schell (1926-2005)
