Alice and Ellen Kessler (born 20 August 1936 in Nerchau,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) are

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

entertainers known in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, especially Germany and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, from the 1950s and 1960s for their singing, dancing, and acting. They are usually credited as the Kessler Twins (Die Kessler-Zwillinge in Germany and Le Gemelle Kessler in Italy), where they remain popular. The Kessler sisters enjoyed a significant degree of popularity in the US, appearing on national television programs such as

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

. The Kesslers made their American television debut on the CBS variety show,

The Red Skelton Hour ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his televis ...

. They also appeared in the 1963 film ''

Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah () were two legendary biblical cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin (see Genesis 19:1–28). They are mentioned frequ ...

'' as dancers and were featured on the cover of

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

that same year. Their parents, Paul and Elsa, sent them to

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

classes at the age of six, and they joined the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspi ...

's child ballet program at age 11. When they were 18, their parents used a visitor's visa to escape to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, where they performed at the Palladium in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. They performed at

The Lido ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

in Paris between 1955 and 1960, where they met Elvis Presley, on leave from the Army on June 17, 1959, and represented

in the

1959 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the in Cannes, France, and hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert. Organised by the European B ...

, finishing in 8th place with ''

Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n ''heute'' (; German for ''today'') is a television news program on the German channel ZDF. The main program is broadcast at 19:00, and includes news, with an emphasis on political news from Germany, Europe and the world, plus 'mixed' news from cu ...

(Tonight we want to go dancing)''. Gemelle Kessler 1965

They moved to

in 1960 and gradually moved to more serious roles. They became very popular thanks to the RAI television

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

''Studio Uno'' (1961–1966). At the age of 40, they agreed to pose on the cover of the Italian edition of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''. That issue became the fastest-selling Italian ''Playboy'' to that date. They moved back to Germany in 1986 and live in Grünwald. They have received two awards from both the German and Italian governments for promoting German-Italian cooperation through their work in show business.

Selected filmography

* ''

The Beggar Student ''Der Bettelstudent'' (''The Beggar Student'') is an operetta in three acts by Carl Millöcker with a German libretto by Camillo Walzel (under the pseudonym of F. Zell) and Richard Genée, based on ''Les noces de Fernande'' by Victorien Sardou a ...

'' (1956) * '' The Count of Luxemburg'' (1957) * ''

The Twins from Zillertal ''The Twins from Zillertal'' (German: ''Die Zwillinge vom Zillertal'') is a 1957 West German comedy film directed by Harald Reinl and starring the twins Isa Günther and Jutta Günther, Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor.Bock & Bergfelder p.96 It ...

'' (1957) * '' Gräfin Mariza'' (1958) * ' (1960) * ''

Love and the Frenchwoman ''Love and the Frenchwoman'' is the US title of a 1960 French anthology film originally entitled ''La française et l'amour''. It starred Jean-Paul Belmondo and Dany Robin. The movie was a big hit in France with admissions of 3,056,736.

'' (1960) * '' Erik the Conqueror'' (1961) * '' The Bird Seller'' (1962) * ''

'' (1962) * ''

Wedding Night in Paradise ''Wedding Night in Paradise'' (German: ''Hochzeitsnacht im Paradis'') is an operetta in eight scenes. Book by Heinz Hentschke, lyrics by Gunther Schwenn and music by Friedrich Schröder.Meyer-Dinkgrafe p.22 It was premièred in Berlin at the M ...

'' (1962) * ''

The Thursday ''The Thursday'' ( it, Il giovedì) is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Dino Risi. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. Cast * Walter Chiari as Dino Versini * Michèle M ...

'' (1963) * ''

Dead Woman from Beverly Hills ''Dead Woman from Beverly Hills'' (german: Die Tote von Beverly Hills) is a 1964 West German drama film directed by Michael Pfleghar and starring Heidelinde Weis, Klausjürgen Wussow and Horst Frank. It was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Fest ...

'' (1964)

References

External links

* * *
Interviewed by the CBC, ca. 1960
(the interview, made while they were employed at The Lido, starts halfway through the clip)
Kessler Sisters on Scopitone
1936 births Living people German child actresses German women singers German film actresses 20th-century German actresses Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Germany Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1959 Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German twins Identical twin actresses Twin musical duos People from Grimma Actresses from Munich Identical twin females Female musical duos German female dancers {{Germany-actor-stub