Elga Andersen (née Helga Hymen or Hymmen) (2 February 1935 – 7 December 1994) was a German actress and singer. She starred in more than one dozen French films in the 1950s and 1960s and also debuted as a recording artist in the 1950s. She performed the songs "" and "" in the 1961 film '' The Guns of Navarone'', and co-starred in the 1971

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

film ''

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

''. Together with her second husband,

Peter Gimbel Peter R. Gimbel (February 14, 1927 – July 12, 1987) was an American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist. Biography Born in New York City, he was the son of Alva (née Bernheimer) and Bernard Feustman Gimbel and heir to the Gimbels depar ...

, she embarked on a 1981 diving expedition of the sunken .

Early life

She was born Helga Hymen (or Hymmen) in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, Germany. She was the only child of her parents; her father was a civil engineer. Her father enlisted with the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

two weeks before World War II ended and was dispatched to the Russian front; he was never heard from again. Hymen dropped out of high school at age 16 and worked as an English and French interpreter to help support her and her mother. When she was 18 she moved to Paris and worked as a model.

Film career

She made her acting debut in ''Les Collegiennes'', a 1957

French film French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...

directed by

André Hunebelle André Hunebelle (1 September 1896 – 27 November 1985) was a French maître verrier (master glassmaker) and film director. Master Glass Artist After attending polytechnic school for mathematics, he became a decorator, a designer, and then a mas ...

, under the name Elga Hymen.

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

selected her for a small role in his film '' Bonjour Tristesse'' in 1958 and gave her the stage name "Elga Andersen". Her first starring role was in 1960 in ''Brazilian Rhapsody''. Into the 1970s she appeared in many predominantly European productions. Her American productions included ''

A Global Affair ''A Global Affair'' is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Jack Arnold (director), Jack Arnold, and starring Bob Hope, Michèle Mercier, Yvonne De Carlo, and Elga Andersen. Plot A baby is abandoned at the United Nations headquarters in New ...

'' (1964), starring

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

, and ''

'' (1971), in which she played opposite

. Andersen and McQueen reportedly had an affair during the filming. One of the

Porsche 911S The original Porsche 911 (pronounced ''nine eleven'', german: Neunelfer) is a luxury sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. A prototype of the famous, distinctive, and durable design was shown to the public in autumn 1963. P ...

sports coupes used in the production was given to Andersen as partial compensation for her work in the film.

Personal life

Her first husband was Christian Girard, a Parisian architect. In 1978 she remarried to the American millionaire Peter R. Gimbel. In 1981 the couple engaged in a million-dollar project to try to recover the vault of the . Andersen said that their main objective was to determine why the ship sank so quickly after being struck by an ocean liner near

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, on 25 July 1956. At the same time, the salvage crew searched for shipboard vaults that they believed contained thousands of dollars in cash and currency. At the beginning of September 1981, after salvaging one of the vaults, the expedition members decided to end the project. The couple produced two documentaries for American television about their expedition. Andersen died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on 7 December 1994. In 1995 her ashes and those of Gimbel, who had died in 1987, were interred in the ''Andrea Doria'' during a diving expedition.

Partial filmography

*1957: ''Les Collégiennes'' – Hélène *1957: '' Love in the Afternoon'' – Bit Part (uncredited) *1957: ''La polka des menottes'' – Une infirmière (uncredited) *1957: ''Girl Merchants'' *1958: '' Bonjour Tristesse'' – Denise *1958: ''

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud ''Elevator to the Gallows'' (french: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud), also known as ''Frantic'' in the U.S. and ''Lift to the Scaffold'' in the U.K., is a 1958 French crime thriller film directed by Louis Malle, starring Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ro ...

'' – Frieda Bencker *1958: ''Solang' die Sterne glüh'n'' – Doris Hoff, Fotografin *1958: ''Ist Mama nicht fabelhaft?'' – Evelyn *1958: ''

So ein Millionär hat's schwer ''So ein Millionär hat's schwer'' is a 1958 Austrian film directed by Géza von Cziffra. Cast * Peter Alexander as Edward Collin * Germaine Damar as Ninette * Heinz Erhardt as Alfons Rappert *Loni Heuser as Madame Sorel *Elga Andersen as Ali ...

'' – Alice Sorel *1960: ''I baccanali di Tiberio'' *1960: ''Os Bandeirantes'' – Elga *1961: ''Le monocle noir'' – Martha *1961: ''Mourir d'amour'' – Karin, la secrétaire *1962: ''Le scorpion'' – Corinne *1962: ''

The Eye of the Monocle ''The Eye of the Monocle'' (French:''L'oeil du monocle'') is a 1962 French comedy thriller film directed by Georges Lautner and starring Paul Meurisse, Elga Andersen and Gaia Germani.Rège p.601 It is the sequel of '' The Black Monocle'' (1961). ...

'' – Erika Murger *1962: ''L'empire de la nuit'' – Widow *1963: ''

Your Turn, Darling ''À toi de faire... mignonne'' ( it, L'agente federale Lemmy Caution), released in the US as ''Your Turn, Darling'', is a French-Italian thriller film based on the 1941 novel ''Your Deal, My Lovely'' by Peter Cheyney. It came out ten years after ...

'' – Valérie Pontiac / Montana *1964: ''

'' – Yvette *1964: '' Coffin from Hong Kong'' – Stella *1965: ' – Inge Moebius *1965: ''

Coast of Skeletons ''Coast of Skeletons'' is a 1965 adventure film, directed by Robert Lynn and starring Richard Todd and Dale Robertson. It is a sequel to the 1963 film ''Death Drums Along the River'', and just as that film, it uses the characters from Edgar W ...

'' – Elizabeth Von Koltze *1966: ' – Sonia *1966: ''Star Black'' – Caroline Williams *1968: '' Captain Singrid'' – Singrid *1968: '' Run, Psycho, Run'' – Claire/ Ann *1968: ''Più tardi Claire, più tardi...'' – Claire / Ann *1970: ''Sex-Power'' – Lorelei *1971: ''

'' – Lisa Belgetti *1971: '' Un omicidio perfetto a termine di legge'' – Monica Breda *1971: '' Detenuto in attesa di giudizio'' – Ingrid Di Noi *1971–1974: ''

Aux frontières du possible ''Aux frontières du possible'' (''To the Boundaries of the Possible'') is a French television show that was broadcast from 1971 and 1974. The show was created by Henri Viard and Jacques Bergier, based on the latter's book ''Scientific Espionage' ...

'' (French TV show) – Barbara Andersen (final appearance) *1973: ''

Night Flight from Moscow ''Night Flight from Moscow'' (also known as ''The Serpent'') (French: ''Le Serpent'') is a 1973 French-Italian-West German Cold War spy-thriller film that was produced, cowritten and directed by Henri Verneuil and starred Yul Brynner, Henry Fond ...

'' – Kate Cross

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Elga 1935 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Dortmund People from the Province of Westphalia German film actresses German television actresses 20th-century German actresses 20th-century German women singers Gimbel family Actors from Dortmund Deaths from cancer in New York (state)