Berinthia "Berry" Berenson-Perkins ( Berenson; April 14, 1948 – September 11, 2001) was an American actress, model and photographer. She was the widow of actor

Anthony Perkins Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influentia ...

. She died in the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

as a passenger on

American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Towe ...

Early life

Berry Berenson was born in

Murray Hill, Manhattan Murray Hill is a neighborhood on the east side of Manhattan in New York City. Murray Hill is generally bordered to the east by the East River or Kips Bay and to the west by Midtown Manhattan, though the exact boundaries are disputed. Murray Hi ...

, New York City. Her mother was born Maria-Luisa Yvonne Radha de Wendt de Kerlor, better known as Gogo Schiaparelli, a socialite of Italian, Swiss, French, and Egyptian ancestry.Elsa Schiaparelli. ''Shocking Life''. New York. Dutton, 1954 Her father, Robert Lawrence Berenson, was an American career diplomat turned shipping executive; he was of

Lithuanian-Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent area ...

descent, and his family's original surname was "Valvrojenski". Berenson's maternal grandmother was the Italian-born fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and her maternal grandfather was Wilhelm de Wendt de Kerlor, a

Theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

and psychic medium. Her elder sister,

Marisa Berenson Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson (born February 15, 1947) is an American actress and model. She appeared on the front covers of ''Vogue'' and ''Time'', and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as ...

, became a well-known model and actress. She also was a great-grandniece of

Giovanni Schiaparelli Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli ( , also , ; 14 March 1835 – 4 July 1910) was an Italian astronomer and science historian. Biography He studied at the University of Turin, graduating in 1854, and later did research at Berlin Observatory, ...

, an Italian astronomer who believed he had discovered the supposed canals of Mars, and a second cousin, once removed, of art expert

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large ...

(1865–1959) and his sister

Senda Berenson Senda Berenson Abbott (March 19, 1868 – February 16, 1954) was a figure of women's basketball and the author of the first Basketball Guide for Women (1901–07). She was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor on July 1, 198 ...

(1868–1954), an athlete and educator who was one of the first two women elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Career

Following a brief modeling career in the late 1960s, Berenson became a freelance photographer. By 1973, her photographs had been published in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', '' Glamour'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

''. Berenson studied acting at New York's

The American Place Theatre The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 by Wynn Handman, Sidney Lanier, and Michael Tolan at St. Clement's Church, 423 West 46th Street in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, and was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre in that year. Tenness ...

with

Wynn Handman Wynn Handman (May 19, 1922 – April 11, 2020) was the Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre, which he co-founded with Sidney Lanier and Michael Tolan in 1963. His role in the theatre was to seek out, encourage, train, and present ...

along with

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

Philip Anglim Philip Charles Anglim (born February 11, 1952) is an American actor. He is best known for his performance as Joseph Merrick in the stage and television versions of '' The Elephant Man'', a role for which he received a Best Actor nomination in the ...

Penelope Milford Penelope Dale Milford (born March 23, 1948) is an American stage and screen actress. She is best known for her role as Vi Munson in '' Coming Home'' (1978) for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also or ...

Robert Ozn The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, hono ...

Ingrid Boulting Ingrid Boulting was born in Transvaal in 1947 – daughter of actress turned fashion model Enid Munnik (later Enid Boulting from her 2nd marriage in 1951) step-daughter of English film-maker Roy Boulting and step-niece of John Boulting and Sy ...

and her sister Marisa. Berenson also appeared in several motion pictures. She starred opposite

in the 1978

Alan Rudolph Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife. He b ...

film ''

Remember My Name ''Remember My Name'' is a 1978 American thriller drama film written and directed by Alan Rudolph. It stars Geraldine Chaplin, Anthony Perkins, Moses Gunn, Jeff Goldblum, and Berry Berenson. Plot Neil Curry (Perkins) is living a happy l ...

'', and appeared with

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

in the 1979 film '' Winter Kills'' and

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

in '' Cat People'' (1982).

Personal life and death

On August 9, 1973, in

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, Berenson, three months pregnant, married her future ''Remember My Name'' co-star

. The couple raised two sons: actor-director

Oz Perkins Osgood Robert "Oz" Perkins II (born February 2, 1974) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Early life Perkins was born in Manhattan, New York, the elder son of actor Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) and photog ...

and folk/rock singer-songwriter

Elvis Perkins Elvis Brooke Perkins (born February 9, 1976) is an American folk-rock musician. He released his debut studio album, '' Ash Wednesday'', in 2007. He subsequently toured in support of the album with his band Elvis Perkins in Dearland, composed o ...

. They remained married until the death of Perkins from AIDS-related complications on September 12, 1992. Berenson died in 2001 during the

aboard

while returning to her Los Angeles home, following a holiday on Cape Cod. At the

National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...

, Berenson is memorialized at the North Pool, on Panel N-76."Berry Berenson Perkins"
. Memorial Guide:

National 9/11 Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...

. Retrieved October 28, 2011.

References

External links

* *
Several news stories about Berry Berenson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenson, Berry 2001 deaths Actresses from New York City American Airlines Flight 11 victims American film actresses American people of Egyptian descent American people of French descent American people of Italian descent American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American people of Swiss descent American terrorism victims American women photographers Female models from New York (state) Jewish American actresses Models from New York City People from Murray Hill, Manhattan People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses