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 ...

''. Together with her second husband, Peter Gimbel, 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 th ...

, 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 previou ...

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 infl ...

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'' (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 Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, and ''

'' (1971), in which she played opposite

. Andersen and McQueen reportedly had an affair during the filming. One of the Porsche 911S 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,

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 bl ...

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 R ...

'' – Frieda Bencker *1958: ''Solang' die Sterne glüh'n'' – Doris Hoff, Fotografin *1958: ''Ist Mama nicht fabelhaft?'' – Evelyn *1958: '' So ein Millionär hat's schwer'' – 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'' – 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: '' A Global Affair'' – 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 ...

'' – Elizabeth Von Koltze *1966: ' – Sonia *1966: ''Star Black'' – Caroline Williams *1968: ''

Captain Singrid ''Captain Singrid'' (French: ''Capitaine Singrid'') is a 1968 adventure film directed by Jean Leduc and starring Elga Andersen, Robert Woods and Giorgia Moll.Wakeman p.1095 It was made as a co-production between France, Italy and Portugal. Locat ...

'' – Singrid *1968: ''

Run, Psycho, Run ''Run, Psycho, Run'' ( it, Più tardi, Claire… più tardi/ translation: ''Later, Claire....Later'') is a 1968 film directed by Brunello Rondi. The film stars Gary Merrill, Elga Andersen and Georges Rivière. Although filmed in the mid 1960s, ' ...

'' – 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 ''Cross Current'' ( it, Un omicidio perfetto a termine di legge/ ''A Perfect Murder According to Law''), ( es, Homicidio al límite de la ley), is a 1971 Italian-Spanish giallo film directed by Tonino Ricci, starring Ivan Rassimov and Rosanna Yann ...

'' – Monica Breda *1971: ''

Detenuto in attesa di giudizio ''In Prison Awaiting Trial'' ( it, Detenuto in attesa di giudizio) is a 1971 Italian drama film directed by Nanni Loy. It was entered into the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival where Alberto Sordi won the Silver Bear for Best Actor award ...

'' – Ingrid Di Noi *1971–1974: '' Aux frontières du possible'' (French TV show) – Barbara Andersen (final appearance) *1973: '' Night Flight from Moscow'' – 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)