Romy Schneider
Schneider was born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (1938) into a family
of actors in Nazi-era Vienna.
After establishing herself in Austria, she moved to Paris
with her French actor fiancée, Alain Delon, in 1957.
She made a name for herself in France but made only a few appearances in American film. One of them being the comedy Good Neighbor Sam,
with Jack Lemmon, and the other being from Woody Allen’s first
screenplay (which he also co-starred in).
Her personal life was somewhat tragic. After ending her
relationship with Delon in 1966, she married German director and actor Harry
Meyen. They conceived a son David Christopher shortly before their divorce.
Meyen committed suicide in Hamburg, Germany in 1979. In 1975, Schneider married
her secretary, Daniel Biasini. They had a daughter several years later.
Her son David died at the age of 14 by puncturing his
femoral artery trying to climb a spiked fence at his grandparents’ home. After
her son’s death, she began to drink heavily. On May 29, 1982 she was found dead
in her apartment in Paris. It was suspected she committed suicide by ingesting
fatal amount of alcohol and sleeping pills.
