Marisa Berenson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marisa Berenson
Born February 15, 1947 (1947-02-15) (age 61)
New York City, New York
Occupation Film actress, model
Spouse(s) James Randall (1976-1978)
Aaron Richard Golub (1982-1987)

Marisa Berenson (born February 15, 1947 in New York City, New York) is an American actress and model.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Marisa Berenson is the elder daughter of Robert L. Berenson, an American diplomat turned shipping executive, who was of Lithuanian Jewish descent; his family's original surname was Valvrojenski.[1][2] Her mother was born Countess Maria Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, better known as Gogo Schiaparelli, a socialite of Italian, Swiss, French, and Egyptian ancestry.[3][4]

Berenson's maternal grandmother was the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli,[5] and her maternal grandfather was Count Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor, a Theosophist and psychic medium.[6][7][8] Her younger sister, Berinthia, became the model, actress, and photographer Berry Berenson. She also is a great-grand-niece of Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer who believed he had discovered the supposed canals of Mars, a great-grand-niece of art expert Bernard Berenson (1865 – 1959), and his sister Senda Berenson (1868 – 1954), an athlete and educator who was one of the first two women elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.[9]

She was educated in England at Heathfield St Mary's School.

[edit] Career

A fashion model who came to prominence in the early 1960s -- "I once was one of the highest paid models in the world", she told The New York Times -- Berenson appeared on the cover of the July 1970 issue of Vogue as well as the cover of Time on 15 December 1975. She was known as "The Queen of the Scene" for her frequent appearances at nightclubs and other social venues in her youth,[10] and Yves Saint Laurent dubbed her "the girl of the Seventies".[11]

Eventually she was cast in several prominent film roles, including Frau von Aschenbach in Luchino Visconti's 1971 film Death in Venice, the Jewish department store heiress Natalia Landauer in the 1972 film Cabaret, for which she received some acclaim, (including two Golden Globe nominations, a BAFTA nomination and an award from the National Board of Review) and the tragic beauty Lady Lyndon in the 1975 Stanley Kubrick film Barry Lyndon. Though the last role has been her most well known, the reviews of her performance were lackluster; Vincent Canby of The New York Times merely stated, "Marisa Berenson splendidly suits her costumes and wigs."[12]

Berenson has appeared in a number of other movies, most of them filmed in Europe, as well as in made-for-TV movies in the United States, such as the Holocaust-themed drama Playing for Time (1980).

[edit] Personal life

In the early 1970s, Berenson was the companion of the French banking heir Baron David René de Rothschild, the younger son of Baron Guy de Rothschild.[13]

Berenson's first husband was James Randall, a rivet manufacturer. They married in Beverly Hills, California, in 1976[14]and divorced in 1978. They have one daughter, Starlite Melody Randall (born 1977).[15]

Her second husband was Aaron Richard Golub, a lawyer, whom she married in 1982 and divorced in 1987. In the divorce proceedings, the judge ruled that "the increased value of Ms. Berenson's acting and modeling career [during the marriage] were marital property" and therefore subject to consideration in any settlement agreements.[16][17][18][19]

[edit] Tragedy

On September 11, 2001 Marisa's sister Berry was killed in the first flight to hit the World Trade Center. In a strange coincidence, at the same time as her sister's death Berenson was flying from Paris to New York. In an interview she did with CBS a couple of weeks after the event, she told of the experience and how hours later she landed in Newfoundland, and being told of her sister's death by a phonecall with her daughter.

[edit] Quotes

"I hope she didn't suffer. It's hard to take in. I have hope and tremendous faith. I think that's what gets you through life...through tragedies is when you have faith." Marisa Berenson on the death of her sister Berry Berenson in the Sept. 11th attacks.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bernard Berenson, "Sketch for a Self-Portrait", NY: Pantheon, 1949
  2. ^ "Robert L. Berenson, Ex-Envoy and Head of Shipping Line, Dies", The New York Times, 3 February 1965, page 35
  3. ^ Elsa Schiaparelli, "Shocking Life", NY: Dutton, 1954
  4. ^ She married, as her second husband, Gino, Marchese Cacciapuoti di Giugliano, an actor and director.
  5. ^ Linda Greenhouse, "Schiaparelli Dies in Paris; Brought Color to Fashion", The New York Times, 15 November 1973
  6. ^ Elsa Schiaparelli, "Shocking Life", NY: Dutton, 1954
  7. ^ New Yorker article about Elsa Schiaparelli
  8. ^ Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica entry
  9. ^ "Encyclopaedia Britannica Online entry"
  10. ^ John Corry, "About New York", The New York Times, 4 February 1974
  11. ^ Judy Klemesrud, "And Now, Make Room for the Berenson Sisters", The New York Times, 19 April 1973, page 54
  12. ^ Vincent Canby, "Barry Lyndon", The New York Times, 19 December 1975
  13. ^ Judy Klemesrud, "And Now, Make Room for the Berenson Sisters", The New York Times, 19 April 1973, page 54
  14. ^ "People", Time, 22 November 1976
  15. ^ "People", Time, 21 November 1977
  16. ^ David Margolick, "Divorce Quandary: Is Fame Property?", The New York Times, 26 September 1990
  17. ^ Ronald Sullivan, "Her Fame Is Ruled His Too: Soprano Must Share Income", The New York Times, 3 July 1991
  18. ^ Joyce Wadler, "Public Lives: Still a Bad Boy, as a Lawyer and a Novelist", The New York Times, 7 April 2000, B2:4
  19. ^ Claude Solnik, "Breaking up is even harder to do for celebrities", Long Island Business News, 20 January 2006

[edit] External links