Björn Andresen

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Reproduction of cover page of Germaine Greer's book "The Beautiful Boy"

Björn Johan Andrésen (born 26 January 1955, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish actor and musician. He is best known for playing the fourteen-year-old Tadzio in Luchino Visconti's 1971 film adaptation of the Thomas Mann novella Death in Venice.

Andrésen had only appeared in one film, En Kärlekshistoria (1970) at the time he was cast in Death in Venice, which gained him international recognition. While the film performed relatively poorly at the box office, Andrésen was noted for his performance as Tadzio, the beautiful young Polish boy with whom the film's older protagonist Gustav von Aschenbach becomes obsessed. Film historian Lawrence J. Quirk commented in his study The Great Romantic Films (1974) that some shots of Andrésen "could be extracted from the frame and hung on the walls of the Louvre or the Vatican".

Rumors circulated in America at the time of the film's release as to whether or not Andrésen was homosexual (as the role demanded that he appear to exchange romantic glances with the protagonist and on other occasion be kissed and caressed by another teenage boy). Andrésen emphatically denied these, and later recounted his discomfort at being forced by director Luchino Visconti during filming to visit a gay bar, where he attracted the attention of a number of older men.^[1] Eager to dispel the rumors regarding his sexuality and to shed his "pretty boy" image, Andrésen thereafter avoided homosexual roles and parts which he felt would play off of his good looks, and was angry when feminist writer Germaine Greer used a photograph of him on the cover of her book The Beautiful Boy (2003) without first obtaining his personal permission.^[2]Although Greer did consult with photographer David Bailey (who owned the copyright for the image) before publishing the book, Andrésen maintained that it is common practice when a party uses an image of a person which has been copyrighted by a different individual to inform the individual and that he would not have given his consent for Greer to use his picture if she had informed him of her plans.

After the release of Death in Venice, Andrésen spent an extended period of time in Japan, where he appeared in a number of television commercials and also recorded two pop songs. It is said that his appearance as Tadzio in the film inspired many Japanese anime artists (known for their depictions of young, effeminate men), especially Keiko Takemiya.^{[citation needed]}

Andrésen has also appeared in several other films^[3]. These include Pelikaanimies (2004)^[4], Kojan (1992) and Smugglarkungen (1985).

In 1976, he was briefly accused of involvement in the stabbing death of actor Sal Mineo, whom some sources claimed had been a lover of Andrésen's. Andrésen denied ever having known Mineo at all and stated that he was not even in the United States at the time of the murder. ^[5] He was not charged in connection with Mineo's death.

1 Trivia
2 Quotes
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Trivia

In addition to being an actor, Andrésen is also a professional musician, and until recently performed and toured regularly with the Sven Erics^[6] dance band.

Currently lives with his wife and daughter in Stockholm.

[edit] Quotes

"It's very different now, but you can see why most actors would avoid homosexual roles....After I was in 'Death in Venice,' so many papers in America wrote that I was homosexual. All from one movie! I kept having to say no, no, which makes me sound desperate or prejudiced...So I think for me I'm better being far away from all that."^[7]

"I was just sixteen and Visconti and the team took me to a gay nightclub. Almost all the crew were gay. The waiters at the club made me feel very uncomfortable. They looked at me uncompromisingly as if I was a nice meaty dish. I knew I couldn't react. It would have been social suicide. But it was the first of many such encounters."^[7]