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 counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

film ''

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

''. 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 (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, 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 German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

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 The cinema of France comprises 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 prima ...

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 m ...

, under the name Elga Hymen.

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

selected her for a small role in his film ''

Bonjour Tristesse ''Bonjour Tristesse'' () is a novel by Françoise Sagan. Published in 1954, when the author was only 18, it was an overnight sensation. The title is derived from a poem by Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée", which begins with the lines "Adieu ...

'' 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 an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

, and ''

'' (1971), in which she played opposite

. Andersen and McQueen reportedly had an affair during the filming. One of the

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 model series (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in ) is a family of German two-door, high performance Rear-engine design, rear-engine sports cars, introduced in September 1964 by Porsche, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. Now in it ...

S 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 Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, 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 Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

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: ''

'' – Denise * 1958: '' Ascenseur pour l'échafaud'' – 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'' – 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 Edga ...

'' – Elizabeth Von Koltze * 1966: ' – Sonia * 1966: '' Johnny Colt'' – 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. Loca ...

'' – Singrid * 1968: '' Run, Psycho, Run'' – 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'' – Monica Breda * 1971: '' Detenuto in attesa di giudizio'' – Ingrid Di Noi * 1971–1974: ''

Aux frontières du possible ''Aux frontières du possible'' (''To the Boundaries of the Possible'') is a French television show that was broadcast from 1971 and 1974. The show was created by Henri Viard and Jacques Bergier, based on the latter's book ''Scientific Espionage ...

'' (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 Actresses from Dortmund Deaths from cancer in New York (state)