AND news of the death of the Kessler twins arrived from Germanywhich occurred in contemporary with an assisted suicide (confirmation arrived at LaPresse by Wega Wetzel, spokesperson for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Humanes Sterbe – German organization for civil rights and patient advocacy. Alice and Helen were 89 years old and lived in Gruenwald, near Munich. Initially the newspaper Bild had revealed that an investigation was underway by the Munich police regarding this double death, then instead confirms it: they had opted for the assisted suicide also choosing the date of death.
Kessler twins: Alice and Ellen died together
Born on 20 August 1936 in Nerchauin Saxony, have been one of the symbols of Italian television since the birth of the Sixties. After a career in Paris as dancers al Lido of Paris with the corps de ballet of Bluebell Girls by Margaret Kellya participation in Eurovision and several musical comedies, landed in Italy as one of the most exotic products of black and white TV.
In short they became a permanent presence on Saturday evenings of the past, to reach stratospheric fame with Studio One e Great song. Called the “legs of the nation”, they also conquered the charts with The night is small/Let me kiss you with letkiss (launched during the edition of 1965 by Studio Uno (of which it was the opening theme). And even more with Da-da-un-paa single from ’61 which is still in the heads of Italians, and which also conquered for the choreography with crossed legs and perfect symmetry.
An earthquake for Italy at the time, which spent the nights on the twins’ legs, which is why Rai forced them to wear opaque and even more opaque wool socks. The pas de trio with his choreographer friend Don Lurio, responsible for three quarters of the ballets on TV at the time, also remained famous. Since the Seventies they have instead put themselves aside a bit, preferring musical comedies, even if one of their most viewed and reviewed appearances in streaming dates back to ’74: the one with Raffaella Carrà and Mina in Milleluciwhere they overlap with each other in a game of mockery of their own defects (or strengths).
The Kessler twins (Alice and Ellen) in 1987. (Getty Images)
The eternal symbiosis
Never married, however they have had important affairs with men from the entertainment industry. Alice was the partner of the singer Marcel Amont for a long time and then of Enrico Maria Salerno, while Ellen – who said she had had a night of love with Burt Lancaster – she was Umberto Orsini’s partner for many years.
Alice and Ellen Kessle in 1991. (Photo by Archie Kent/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
In 1986 they returned to live in Germany, near Munich. Even if they come repeatedly called back as guests on revivals and for interviews about the good old days. In 2011 they participated in the musical Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydewhile perhaps their last real appearance on TV is at the 2014 Sanremo festival hosted by Fazio and Littizzetto.
As in Inseparable by David Cronenberg, where two twins kill themselves together, the news of the Kesslers’ death raised doubts about a possible agreed end. After all, they had told it to Courier interviewed on their 88th birthday: «Our wish is to leave togetherthe same day. The idea that it will happen to one of the two first is very difficult to bear.”
And so it was. United until the end as for life. Wega Wetzel said the two women had decided for months to die; on the appointed day a doctor and a lawyer went to the house for all the necessary assistance.