die Kessler-Zwillinge (in Germany) le gemelle Kessler (in Italy)
Occupations
Singers
dancers
actresses
Years active
1942–present
Alice and Ellen Kessler (born 20 August 1936), usually credited as the Kessler Twins (German: die Kessler-Zwillinge; Italian: le gemelle Kessler), are German twin 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 variety show The Red Skelton Hour and appearing on national television programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show. They also appeared in the 1963 film Sodom and Gomorrah as dancers and were featured on the cover of Life Magazine that same year.
Lives and careers
Twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler were born in Nerchau, Saxony to parents Paul and Elsa Kessler. The girls started ballet classes at the age of six, and they joined the Leipzig Opera'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.
In 1960, the twins moved to Italy, where they gradually worked into more serious roles. They became very popular through 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.[1]
The Kessler twins moved back to Germany in 1986 and live in Grünwald, Bavaria. They have received awards from both the German and Italian governments for promoting German-Italian cooperation through their work in show business.
