Alice and Ellen Kessler (born 20 August 1936), usually credited as the Kessler Twins (; ), are German

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

sisters who as singers, dancers and actresses were popular in Europe, especially Germany and Italy, during the 1950s and 1960s. The Kessler sisters enjoyed a significant degree of popularity in the US as well, making their American television debut on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

variety show ''

The Red Skelton Hour ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his telev ...

'' and appearing on national television programs such as ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

''. They also appeared in the 1963 film ''

Sodom and Gomorrah In the Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah () were two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Sodom and Gomorrah are repeatedly invoked throughout the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical texts, and the New Testament as symbols of sin, di ...

'' as dancers and were featured on the cover of ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

'' that same year.

Lives and careers

Twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler were born in

Nerchau Nerchau is a town and a former municipality in the Leipzig district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is a part (''Ortschaft'') of the town Grimma. It is situated on the river Mulde, 7 km northeast of Grimma, and ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

to parents Paul and Elsa Kessler. The girls started

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 of ...

classes at the age of six, and they joined the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera () 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 Singspiel perfo ...

's child ballet program at age 11. When the twins were 18, their parents used a visitor's visa for the family to escape

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. After they reached

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, the sisters performed at the

Palladium Palladium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1802 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas (formally 2 Pallas), ...

. Between 1955 and 1960, they performed at The Lido in Paris. There they met American singer

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

, who was on leave from the army on 17 June 1959. The twins represented in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1959 The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the in Cannes, France, and hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert. Organised by the European Broadca ...

, finishing in 8th place with "" ("Tonight we want to go dancing"). Gemelle Kessler 1965

In 1960, the twins moved to Italy, where they gradually worked into more serious roles. They became very popular through the

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

television variety show ''

Studio Uno ''Studio Uno'' is a studio album by Italian singer Mina, released in March 1965 by Ri-Fi. All songs were performed during the Saturday TV show '' Studio Uno''. Thanks to such super hits as " Città vuota", " È l'uomo per me", " Un anno d'amore" ...

'' (1961–1966). At the age of 40, they agreed to pose on the cover of the Italian edition of ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

''. That issue became the fastest-selling Italian ''Playboy'' to that date. The Kessler twins moved back to Germany in 1986 and live in Grünwald,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. They have received awards from both the German and Italian governments for promoting German-Italian cooperation through their work in show business.

Selected filmography

* ''

As Long as There Are Pretty Girls ''As Long as There Are Pretty Girls'' (German: ''Solang' es hübsche Mädchen gibt'') is a 1955 West German musical comedy film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Georg Thomalla, Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler.Bock & Bergfelder p.456 ...

'' (1955) * ''

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 ''The Twins from Zillertal'' (German: ''Die Zwillinge vom Zillertal'') is a 1957 West German comedy film directed by Harald Reinl and starring the twins Isa Günther and Jutta Günther, Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor.Bock & Bergfelder p.96 It ...

'' (1957) * (1958) * (1960) * ''

Love and the Frenchwoman ''Love and the Frenchwoman'' is the US title of a 1960 French anthology film originally entitled ''La française et l'amour''. It starred Jean-Paul Belmondo and Dany Robin. The movie was a big hit in France with admissions of 3,056,736.< ...

'' (1960) * ''

Erik the Conqueror ''Erik the Conqueror'' (, lit. "The invaders") is a 1961 epic swashbuckling film directed by Mario Bava and starring George Ardisson and Cameron Mitchell as long-lost Viking brothers in the 9th century, one of whom is raised in England, the othe ...

'' (1961) * '' The Bird Seller'' (1962) * ''

'' (1962) * '' Wedding Night in Paradise'' (1962) * ''

The Thursday ''The Thursday'' () 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 Mercier as Elsa * ...

'' (1963) * ''

Dead Woman from Beverly Hills ''Dead Woman from 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 in the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Heidelinde Weis as Lu ...

'' (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 People from Grimma Actresses from Saxony German child actresses German women singers German film actresses 20th-century German actresses Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German twins Identical twin actresses Twin musical duos Actresses from Munich Identical twin females Female musical duos German female dancers Eurovision Song Contest entrants {{Germany-film-actor-1930s-stub