Romy Haag (born 1 January 1948) is a Dutch dancer, singer, actress and former nightclub manager. In 1999, her autobiography Eine Frau und mehr was published, in which she describes her life in the art scene in the U.S.A. and Berlin in the 1970s. She has had roles in 26 films, including Plastikfieber, The Case of Mr. Spalt (Zum Beispiel Otto Spalt), The Hamburg Syndrome and Mascara with Charlotte Rampling. She released 17 albums.[1]
Early life
Romy Haag was born Edouard Frans Verba[2] in Scheveningen, Netherlands. When she was 13, Romy Haag and her family joined the circus. She started her career at the Circus Strassburger as a children's clown. At age 16, she moved to Paris with the trapeze artists from the circus and debuted at the Parisian nightclubs as a cabaret dancer.
Career
In 1972, an American show manager offered Haag a tour booking and she performed her show Berlin Chanson at Fire Island, in Long Island and Atlantic City. There she met and fell in love with a street musician from Berlin and decided to move back to Europe to live in the German city with him.[3]
In 1976, Haag and David Bowie began a romantic relationship. Bowie subsequently moved to Berlin and completed his first German tour.[4][5]
Haag's first single "Liege-Samba" appeared in 1977, with Udo Lindenberg contributing the lyrics and music. She went on tour with Lindenberg, and in the following year, released her single "Superparadise". In 1979, The New Yorker profiled her in a photo tribute. In 1981, her first album So bin ich was released with Klaus Hoffmann contributing the lyrics.
In 1983, Haag sold her night club to travel the world. Returning to Germany in 1986, she began touring Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the U.S. with her City in the Night show. During mid 1980s, Haag was featured in the performance art video installation Queen Zero. During her career, she performed with Conny Göckel, Alexander Kraut, Lutz Woite, Friedel Schwarz, Erik Küppers, Blacky Schwarz, Roland Götz, Hansi Wallbaum, Uli Moritz, Eberhardt Fortmann.
In 1997 Haag received the Teddy Award at the Berlinale 1997 for her life work. The Teddy Award is awarded in recognition of films with LGBTQIA topics.[6]
The German astronomer Felix Hormuth named one of the minor planets he discovered on 29 January 2009 after Romy Haag. The asteroid is officially named 305660 Romyhaag.[7]