Acting
Feb 23, 1939
Graz, Austria
Marisa Mell
Acting
Biography
Marisa Mell (24 February 1939 – 16 May 1992) was an Austrian actress who became a cult figure of 1960s Italian B-movies. She was born as Marlies Theres Moitzi in Graz, Austria. In 1963, she was involved in a violent automobile accident in France. For six hours, she lay unconscious, unaware that she nearly lost her right eye. The disfigurement extended to her lip as well. She spent the next two years undergoing plastic surgery, and no damage remained in her face, except for a distinctive curl of her upper lip. She turned down a seven-year Hollywood contract, saying that while the payment would have been great, "the contract was a whole book. I think that even to go to the toilet I would have needed a permission." In 1967, she performed the title role in the "utterly calamitous" musical Mata Hari alongside Pernell Roberts. After a preview performance in Washington, D.C. that became infamous for its numerous technical problems, producer David Merrick decided to close the production before its scheduled Broadway run. She is best known for the role of Eva Kant in Danger: Diabolik (1968). In the late 1990s, the television show MST3K brought the actress to a new generation of B-movie viewers when the film was featured on an episode. The show also spoofed another of her starring roles in the film Secret Agent Super Dragon. She died in Vienna from throat cancer in 1992, aged 53.
Feature Films (65)
A wealthy landowner haunted by the spectre of his dead mother has a fling with a beautiful fugitive who bears a striking resemblance to his missing wife, who may have been murdered.
Marta
A seductive woman gets involved in relationships with several people. All of the characters play games of deceit with one and other and things get more and more dangerous.
The Great Swindle
José, a young mechanic, arrives in Madrid to make it big. After being conned he loses his savings, and is taken in by Elisa, a photographer. She introduces him to Pablo and Laura. Laura makes him an offer he cant refuse and then his troubles really begin.
High Voltage
In this delightful romantic comedy, four beautiful women attempt to deal with their sexual frustrations in fashionable Rome society.
Anyone Can Play
Rival gangsters from Chicago move to London and attempt to extort money from rich Britons.
The Secret of the Red Orchid
The amorous adventures of Andrea Rossi-Colombotti, an army officer who finds pleasure with beautiful women in life-threatening situations.
Casanova '70
A deck-chair attendant at a British resort promotes a film festival featuring a French sexpot.
French Dressing
Television & Series (6)
Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein is a TV adaption of a novel of the same name by Austrian author Johannes Mario Simmel. Directed by Thomas Engel Siegfried Rauch walks in the footsteps of O. W. Fischer who played the protagonist "Thomas Lieven" already in 1961, just one year after the bestseller had been released. The series is unique for providing a little cooking show at the end of each episode. The book also includes recipes because "Thomas Lieven" is an accomplished amateur cook.
Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein
A monthly series of highly personal documentary films in which individuals are given a platform to discuss issues close to their heart.
