Alice and Ellen Kessler, the German twin dancers and singers who dazzled audiences alongside Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, and Harry Belafonte, have died at the age of 89.
The sisters, whose careers spanned more than six decades, ended their lives together on November 17 at their home in Grünwald, a suburb of Munich, through medical aid in dying, the German Society for Humane Dying confirmed.
“Their desire to die was well-considered, long-standing, and free from any psychiatric crisis,” Wega Wetzel, a spokesperson for the organization, told CNN. “The decisive factor is likely to have been the desire to die together on a specific date.”
The Kessler twins were inseparable in life, and in death they remained so. Ellen Kessler had told the German tabloid Bild in 2024, “That’s what we stipulated in our wills,” referring to their plan to be buried in the same urn, alongside their mother Elsa and beloved dog Yello.
© Hannes MagerstaedtBorn in 1936 in a village now part of Grimma, Saxony, Alice and Ellen began dancing as children in the Leipzig Opera children’s ballet. In 1952, at just 16, their family fled East Germany for West Germany, where the twins performed in a revue theater in Düsseldorf.
By 1955, the sisters were discovered by the director of Paris’s Lido cabaret theater, launching an international career that would span continents.
In the 1960s, they moved to Rome and appeared on high-profile variety shows in the United States, including 'The Ed Sullivan Show' and 'The Red Skelton Hour.' They shared stages with Sinatra, Astaire, and Belafonte, becoming a symbol of postwar glamour and sophistication.
© United ArchivesThey famously declined a role in Elvis Presley’s 'Viva Las Vegas,' reportedly fearing it would typecast them in American musical films.
Italy, however, became a second home for the twins. They were the first showgirls to appear on Italian television and were famously dubbed “the legs of the nation,” a nickname reflecting both their elegance and the cultural impact they had in the 1950s and 60s.
In 1976, a naked photo spread in the Italian edition of Playboy sold out in three hours, cementing their status as icons of European spectacle. Even into their 80s, Alice and Ellen continued to perform.
Alice reflected shortly before their 80th birthday, “Being a twosome only has advantages. Together you’re stronger.” Asked about the secret of their success, she said, “Discipline, every day. Gratitude, time and again. Humility, not cockiness. And togetherness. Until death.”
© Hannes MagerstaedtThey lived in “two mirrored, connecting apartments,” meeting daily for lunch, a routine they cherished. In 1959, the twins represented West Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest with their entry Heute Abend wollen wir tanzen geh’n (Tonight We Want to Go Dancing), placing eighth.
Their fame extended beyond Europe, as they graced the cover of Life magazine and moved in circles that included the biggest stars of the era, from Rock Hudson to Sammy Davis Jr.
Alice and Ellen Kessler moved back to Germany in 1986 after decades abroad, maintaining their presence in the public eye with television appearances, theater performances, and musicals in Berlin, Munich, and Vienna.
Assisted suicide has been legal in Germany under certain conditions since 2019. Unlike euthanasia, which is illegal, patients themselves administer the prescribed drugs. The Kessler twins reportedly joined the German Society for Humane Dying over a year ago, seeking legal and medical guidance for their final act.
© United ArchivesIn interviews with Corriere della Sera, the sisters said, “The idea that one of us might get it first is very hard to bear,” explaining their wish to die together on the same day.
Their choice highlights ongoing discussions about assisted dying, a practice now legal in nine European countries as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Cuba, and Ecuador. In the United States, medical aid in dying is permitted in 10 states and Washington, D.C., with several more considering legislation.
Advocates in New York are currently lobbying Governor Kathy Hochul to pass the Medical Aid in Dying bill, which would allow terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to request a lethal prescription from a doctor.
