Ellen Kessler
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
105
Gender
Female
Birthday
1936-08-20
Day of death
2025-11-17 (89 years old)
Place of Birth
Nerchau, Germany
Ellen Kessler
Biography
Alice and Ellen Kessler (born 20 August 1936 in Nerchau, Saxony, Germany) are twin entertainers known in Europe, especially Germany and Italy, from the 1950s and 1960s for their singing, dancing, and acting. They are usually credited as the Kessler Twins (Die Kessler-Zwillinge in Germany and Le Gemelle Kessler in Italy), where they remain popular. The Kessler sisters enjoyed a significant degree of popularity in the US, appearing on national television programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show. The Kesslers made their American television debut on the CBS variety show, The Red Skelton Hour. They also appeared in the 1963 film Sodom and Gomorrah as dancers and were featured on the cover of Life Magazine that same year. Their parents, Paul and Elsa, sent them to ballet classes at the age of six, and they joined the Leipzig Opera's child ballet program at age 11. When they were 18, their parents used a visitor's visa to escape to West Germany, where they performed at the Palladium in Düsseldorf. They performed at The Lido in Paris between 1955 and 1960, where they met Elvis Presley, on leave from the Army on June 17, 1959, and represented West Germany in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in 8th place with Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh'n (Tonight we want to go dancing). They moved to Italy in 1960 and gradually moved to more serious roles. They became very popular thanks to the RAI television variety show Studio Uno (1961–1966). At the age of 40, they agreed to pose on the cover of the Italian edition of Playboy. That issue became the fastest-selling Italian Playboy to that date. They moved back to Germany in 1986 and live in Grünwald. They have received two awards from both the German and Italian governments for promoting German-Italian cooperation through their work in show business. Source: Article "Kessler Twins" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For
Scene of the Crime
Markus Lanz
Die Harald Schmidt Show
DAS!
Bambi
NDR Talk Show
Nachtcafé
Riverboat
Alpha Forum
Kölner Treff
Zimmer frei!
Eurovision Song Contest
Menschen der Woche
Inas Nacht
Menschen bei Maischberger
Aeschbacher
alfredissimo! Kochen mit Bio
The Ed Sullivan Show
Die Montagsmaler
Lafer! Lichter! Lecker!
Dalli Dalli
Dalli Dalli
Discorama
Wer weiß denn sowas?
Numéro un
Pssst ...
The Danny Kaye Show
Zum blauen Bock
Heut' abend
Balko
Die Feste mit Florian Silbereisen
Hotel Victoria
Boulevard Bio
Ringlstetter
Wortwechsel
Die Pyramide
Tabarin
The Thursday
Der Bettelstudent
Stars in the Ring
Playgirl
Klimbim
Mini Playback Show
Auf eigene Gefahr
Domenica In
Auf los geht's los
Menschen
Versteckte Kamera
Starparade
Lebens-Künstler
Sodom and Gomorrah
Alles Nichts Oder?!
Am laufenden Band
Complexes
Showgeschichten
Der Vogelhändler
Music & Guests
Ein Schloß am Wörthersee
Maskenball bei Scotland Yard
Rocco e le sorelle
Lukas
Wünsch dir was
Erik the Conqueror
The Magician
Scherben bringen Glück
Bio’s Bahnhof
Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten
Vier Mädels aus der Wachau
Countess Mariza
The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina
Ein roter Teppich für....
Deutscher Vorentscheid zum Eurovision Song Contest
Hochzeitsnacht im Paradies
Night-Club
Das Posthaus im Schwarzwald
Love and the Frenchwoman
Die Zwillinge vom Zillertal
Dead Woman from Beverly Hills
Die verflixte 7
Hätten Sie heut’ Zeit für mich?
Solang es hübsche Mädchen gibt
Anneliese Rothenberger gibt sich die Ehre
Songs, Bullies and Chicks
Filmlegenden. Deutsch
Mein Schatz ist aus Tirol
Perpetuum Musicale - Eine Revue ohne Aufenthalt
Festival der Stars
8 x 1 in Noten
Continental Showcase
Die Caterina-Valente-Show
Lieben Sie Show ?
Heimat - Deine Filme
Paris nach Noten
Andere Zeiten - andere Sitten
Johannes Heesters: Eine Legende wird 100
Herzlichen Glückwunsch - Die Michael Schanze Jubiläumsgala
Alice und Ellen
Ein Leben wie im Flug
Mit Rosen fängt die Liebe an
Die diebischen Zwillinge
Treffpunkt Herz
The Count of Luxemburg
Die lachende Dritte
Wieder zurück: Siegfried Arno - Eine Musik-Show aus Studio 3
Show - Charme - Chansons
