Barbara Valentin (born Ursula Ledersteger; 15 December 1940 – 22 February 2002) was an Austrian actress. She worked in film, often with

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...

Biography

Valentin was born in 1940 as Ursula Ledersteger in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria (then part of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

). Her father was the Austrian

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Hans Ledersteger and her mother the actress Irmgard Alberti. She had a half-brother, Alfred Ledersteger. She was married to German film director Helmut Dietl. During the early to mid-1980s, Valentin was close friends with

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

, who lived with her and her daughter in her

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

apartment for some time. She is featured in the video for the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

song It's a Hard Life. During her career, Valentin was nicknamed "the German

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, ''Playboy'' Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. He ...

". On 22 February 2002, Valentin died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in Munich at the age of 61. She was buried in the Ostfriedhof in Munich.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* 1940 births 2002 deaths Austrian expatriates in West Germany Austrian film actresses Austrian television actresses Actresses from Vienna 20th-century Austrian actresses Burials at the Ostfriedhof (Munich) {{Austria-actor-stub