Linda Geiser (born May 13, 1935) is a Swiss film and television actress and art patron who was primarily known for her roles in Swiss television and theatre productions, such as Lüthi und Blanc in the 2000s. Since 1961, Geiser has permanently resided in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she had been active as patron of the arts. She was among the founders of the Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York which promotes Swiss artists. Her patronage includes the ''Bern stipend'' program which gives artists the opportunity to train in New York each year under Geiser's guidance.

Early life and education

Geiser was born May 13, 1935 in Köniz, Switzerland, the second of three children, to Samuel "Sami" Geiser (1907–1993) and Gertrud "Trudy" Geiser (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Joss). She has an older sister, Annemarie Bachofner (

Geiser) and a younger brother, Hans Beat Geiser. She was raised in ''Spiegel'' (part of Köniz) and attended local schools, some classes together with Elisabeth Kopp. Geiser attended acting school at the University of the Arts Bern and learned English in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. In 1959, she first traveled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, visiting relatives in Ohio and New York. In 1961, aged 26, she moved to New York City permanently, where she took roles in theatre and broadway while studying acting at

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency prog ...

Career

In 1964, she made a controversial appearance in

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

's '' The Pawnbroker'' by playing a scene in which she fully exposed her breasts. At the time, this contravened the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the Cinema of the United States, United States from 1934 to 1968. It ...

and was one of the earliest instances of a

nude scene In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scenes, ...

in a mainstream film.

Filmography

Personal life

In 1979, Geiser purchased a dilapidated red brick building, in

East Village, Manhattan The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street on the ...

for $38,000 (approximately $160,000 in 2025), right across from the

9th precinct, New York City Police Department The 9th Precinct of the New York City Police Department is a police precinct in New York City. It is one of 78 NYPD patrol areas. Its boundaries are East 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the west, East Houston Street to the south and the Ea ...

. The custodian of the building insisted on buying that she should buy it from him, so she subsequently mortgaged her parental property outside of Bern to raise the funds for the purchase. For over four decades, she rented apartments and rooms affordably, to artists, musicians and other creatives, who temporarily came to New York. In 2024, she sold the property, and moved temporarily back to her native Switzerland, where she resides in a retirement home. For over 40 years, she has been in a relationship with John Durgin (born 1958), a former barista and handyman, whom she met in the early 1980s. She does not have children.

References

External links

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Ausführliche Infos und Pressestimmen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiser, Linda 1935 births Swiss film actresses Swiss television actresses Living people People from the canton of Bern 20th-century Swiss actresses 21st-century Swiss actresses