The tragic story of the most handsome boy of the 20th century, actor Bjørn Andresen
When you look through the biography of Swedish actor and musician Björn Andresen, you inadvertently recall the proverb: "Don't be born beautiful, be born happy." Already at the age of 16, he was known throughout the world as "the most beautiful boy of the 20th century," received recognition in the film industry and the opportunity to become a great artist. But at the same time, Björn felt so unhappy that it was hard to envy his fate...
Why his first role not only made Andresen famous, but also destroyed him, and how his life turned out in the future, read in our article.
Björn Johan Andresen was born in 1955 in the Swedish capital Stockholm. His mother, Barbara Andresen, was in an affair with an influential married man, a member of the Stockholm Literary Association. So Björn, to put it mildly, was not a wanted child. His father tried for a long time to persuade his mistress to have an abortion, but it was too late…
When the boy was 6 years old, his mother was stripped of her parental rights, and three years later she disappeared without a trace (as it turned out later, she committed suicide). Björn was raised by his grandmother. She had worked in the film industry all her life, so she hoped that her beloved grandson would one day become a famous actor.
The boy himself was more drawn to music - from early childhood, Björn dreamed of becoming a pianist. Fortunately, his perfect pitch allowed him to enter the elite music school Madorufu Fredrik in Stockholm at the age of 8. He graduated with honors and planned to further develop his life in this direction, but his grandmother persuaded her grandson to try his hand at cinema.
In the 1970s, director Luchino Visconti decided to film Thomas Mann's story "Death in Venice." He approached the issue with great responsibility: filming took place on the island of Lido, in the same hotel where the events of the novel took place, and the actor to play the role of the aristocrat Tadzio Visconti was personally selected from more than 1,500 applicants. In order to see all the boys, his team had to travel to several countries and visit hundreds of schools and youth sections.
But Visconti never managed to find the owner of that “divine spark” that Mann wrote about. Until Björn Andresen came to audition.
The boy with an angelic appearance, noble manners and amazing grace was immediately approved for the main role. Since Visconti wanted everything to go perfectly, he strictly controlled the leading actor, forbidding him to: sunbathe, since in the film he is an aristocrat with pale skin, play football with other guys so as not to get bruises and abrasions, flirt with his partners on the set and much more.
At the insistence of the director, all the actors reread the novella "Death in Venice" several times. Only Björn was forbidden to do so, so as not to spoil the "purity of the image of Tadzio."
It should also be noted that throughout the filming process, rumors periodically appeared in the press about the tragic death of Bjørn Andresen as a result of an accident, a drug overdose, etc. They were spread by Helmut Berger, the offended lover of Luchino Visconti, who was thus taking revenge on the gay director for not casting him in the lead role.
On March 1, 1971, the long-awaited premiere of the film took place at the Cannes Film Festival. The film caused a real sensation! Soon, Death in Venice received many prestigious awards, including several BAFTA awards, the Jubilee Award in Cannes, an Oscar nomination, and became the "hit of the year" in Japan. Naturally, Bjørn Andresen immediately became a world-class star and earned the unofficial title of "the most beautiful boy of the 20th century", but the shy teenager was not prepared for such sudden popularity...
Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Luchino Visconti tried in every way to introduce his protégé to gay culture. Immediately after the film's premiere, he took him to a gay bar, where, according to Björn, he felt like "a piece of meat."
Almost the entire film crew of Death in Venice shared Visconti's interests, if you can call it that. And all this mass popularization of homosexuality led to the fact that soon Björn began to think: "Maybe I'm gay too?"
Later, the actor admitted that in the 70s he had experience of close communication with other men. But it did not lead to anything good: Andresen soon realized that this was contrary to his true desires, and at the same time, it had a negative impact on his psyche.
When the boy was riding a wave of success, his grandmother persuaded him to go to Japan and continue developing his acting career there. Björn was dressed in a sailor suit a la Tadzio, photographed for fashion magazines, invited to popular TV shows, interviewed and in almost every interview they recalled that ill-fated role.
In Japan, Andresen recorded two musical hits, but later admitted to journalists that he was not interested in the pop industry. Bjør sincerely wanted to go back to his homeland, enroll in the Stockholm Conservatory and teach music in the future. Such a bold statement upset Bjørn's grandmother, who with all her heart wanted him to become famous as an actor.
Because of this, the relationship between them deteriorated greatly, so Andresen had to move to a separate apartment, and in order to be able to support it, he periodically began to take on secondary and episodic roles, as well as appear on the theater stage.
Björn himself refused major offers, as he still could not recover from the role of Tadzio. Only after some time did he appear in the film "The Feeble-minded Murderer" by Hans Alfredson, and at its premiere he met his future wife, the poetess Susanna, with whom he had "love at first sight".
The couple got married very soon, and in 1984 they had a daughter, Robin. Two years later, Björn's son, Elvin, was born, but the boy was not destined to live a long and happy life. At the age of 10 months, he died of sudden infant death syndrome. This was a real blow for the family. At that time, Andresen suffered a severe nervous breakdown and was forced to seek help from a psychologist.
Together with a specialist, they came to the conclusion that it was Death in Venice that became his first serious mental trauma. The death of his son was the final blow in Andresen's life. For some time, music, tutoring, and occasional filming helped him cope with the pain. But in 1994, he had another nervous breakdown, this time accompanied by alcohol problems.
After a long rehabilitation, Björn decides to end his acting career for good. He continues to work as a piano teacher, occasionally appears on the stage and even tries his hand at accounting. Despite this, the burdensome shadow of the role of the aristocrat Tadzio haunts him for the rest of his life. Björn once admitted that if he had known what this role would turn out to be for him, he would not have agreed to act in the film for any amount of money...
Bjørn Johan Andresen now lives on the outskirts of Stockholm with his wife. Not far from them lives their grown-up daughter Robin with her family. Bjørn successfully works at a music school and, despite his promise to quit the film industry forever, sometimes acts in films. But after that, the actor never played a single major role, because memories of teenage trauma still haunt his soul.
This story once again proves that the rich also cry, and a “beautiful picture” is not always an indicator of a happy, prosperous life.