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

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, 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 ...

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 betwee ...

) are twin 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 ...

, 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 Kesslers made their American television debut on the CBS variety show, The Red Skelton Hour. They also appeared in the 1963 film '' Sodom and Gomorrah'' as dancers and were featured on the cover of Life Magazine 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 ...

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 Sing ...

'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 ...

, 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 ...

. They performed at The Lido 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, finishing in 8th place with '' Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n (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 performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...

''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 magazine, 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 H ...

''. 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 ...

'' (1956) * '' The Count of Luxemburg'' (1957) * '' The Twins from Zillertal'' (1957) * '' Gräfin Mariza'' (1958) * ' (1960) * '' Love and the Frenchwoman'' (1960) * '' Erik the Conqueror'' (1961) * '' The Bird Seller'' (1962) * '' Sodom and Gomorrah'' (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 ...

'' (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 ...

'' (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 Festi ...

'' (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