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
NDR Talk Show
DAS!
Markus Lanz
Bambi
Die Harald Schmidt Show
Zum blauen Bock
Eurovision Song Contest
Kölner Treff
Nachtcafé
Riverboat
The Ed Sullivan Show
Zimmer frei!
Die Pyramide
alfredissimo! Kochen mit Bio
Die Feste mit Florian Silbereisen
Complexes
Wer weiß denn sowas?
Menschen bei Maischberger
Menschen der Woche
Aeschbacher
Numéro un
Inas Nacht
Dalli Dalli
Dalli Dalli
Playgirl
Tabarin
Heut' abend
Der Vogelhändler
The Danny Kaye Show
Alpha Forum
Die Montagsmaler
Menschen
Discorama
Ein Schloß am Wörthersee
Ringlstetter
Hochzeitsnacht im Paradies
Wortwechsel
Boulevard Bio
Auf los geht's los
Stars in the Ring
Lafer! Lichter! Lecker!
Balko
Scherben bringen Glück
Domenica In
Music & Guests
Pssst ...
Am laufenden Band
Showgeschichten
Versteckte Kamera
Starparade
Lukas
Auf eigene Gefahr
The Magician
Mini Playback Show
Hotel Victoria
Alles Nichts Oder?!
Bio’s Bahnhof
Klimbim
Lebens-Künstler
Sodom and Gomorrah
Night-Club
Andere Zeiten - andere Sitten
Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten
Countess Mariza
Die verflixte 7
Ein roter Teppich für....
Wünsch dir was
Hätten Sie heut’ Zeit für mich?
Anneliese Rothenberger gibt sich die Ehre
Deutscher Vorentscheid zum Eurovision Song Contest
Filmlegenden. Deutsch
8 x 1 in Noten
Love and the Frenchwoman
Continental Showcase
Lieben Sie Show ?
Erik the Conqueror
Festival der Stars
Die Caterina-Valente-Show
Heimat - Deine Filme
Alice und Ellen
Rocco e le sorelle
The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina
The Thursday
Der Bettelstudent
Herzlichen Glückwunsch - Die Michael Schanze Jubiläumsgala
Ein Leben wie im Flug
Die Zwillinge vom Zillertal
The Count of Luxemburg
Maskenball bei Scotland Yard
Treffpunkt Herz
Songs, Bullies and Chicks
Vier Mädels aus der Wachau
Johannes Heesters: Eine Legende wird 100
Die diebischen Zwillinge
Wieder zurück: Siegfried Arno - Eine Musik-Show aus Studio 3
Das Posthaus im Schwarzwald
Solang es hübsche Mädchen gibt
Mit Rosen fängt die Liebe an
Dead Woman from Beverly Hills
Show - Charme - Chansons
Paris nach Noten
Mein Schatz ist aus Tirol
Die lachende Dritte
Perpetuum Musicale - Eine Revue ohne Aufenthalt
