Person biography:
Alice and Ellen Kessler were German twin sisters who reached the peak of their popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. Born to mechanical engineer Paul Kessler and his wife Elsa, their parents encouraged their artistic inclinations from an early age and enrolled them in ballet classes. The sisters graduated from opera school in Leipzig by 1950 and soon after defected from their native Saxony in the GDR to West Germany.
The twins made their professional debut as singer/dancers at the Düsseldorf Palladium and began to appear on screen in several German musicals and romances. In 1955, they were recruited by the director of the Paris Lido to join his Bluebell Girls in Varieté on the Champs-Élysées, where they enjoyed great popularity during their five-year tenure.
In 1959, Alice and Ellen represented West Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes, reaching 8th place. They made several recordings for the Polydor label in German, French, and Italian, and became featured performers on the Italian RAI TV musical program Studio Uno. In 1962, they had settled in Italy, where they attained iconic status as 'Le gemelle Kessler'.
The twins continued to perform and record music, and their popularity extended to the other side of the Atlantic. They appeared as guests on variety shows like The Red Skelton Hour, The Danny Kaye Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. In private life, the Kesslers rebuffed many advances from prominent American actors, including Elvis Presley, but did have a brief liaison with Burt Lancaster.
In 1986, the twins moved back to Germany and set up residence in the affluent suburb of Geiselgasteig, near Munich. They remained inseparable, with their apartments divided only by a sliding door. The Kessler Twins have received multiple awards, including the Montreux's Rose D'or and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
