Quick Facts
Biography
Maria Perschy (23 September 1938 – 3 December 2004) was an Austrian actress.
Early life
Perschy was born in Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Austria and moved to Vienna at the age of 17 to study acting.
Career
After completing her education, she moved to Germany for more training, leading to a film career. Her first major success came with Nasser Asphalt where she played together with Horst Buchholz. Her acting career would eventually take her — by way of France, Italy and Great Britain — to Hollywood. Perschy played in a number of American films, her most notable roles being in the 1962 biopic Freud and the 1964 Rock Hudson comedy, Man's Favorite Sport?. Perschy's career in America eventually declined and by the late 1970s her only US appearances were brief roles in TV shows such as Hawaii Five-O and General Hospital.
While shooting in Spain in 1971, Perschy suffered a burn injury from an accident that required several operations before she could resume her career. Perschy returned to her native Austria in 1985 and continued to perform in a series of plays and TV series.
Death
On 3 December 2004, Perschy died of cancer in Vienna.
Selected filmography
- Of Course, the Motorists (1959)
- Nasser Asphalt (1958)
- Natürlich die Autofahrer (1959)
- Il moralista (1959)
- Of Course, the Motorists (1959)
- Call Girls of Rome (1960)
- Love in Rome (1960)
- Freud (1962)
- The Password Is Courage (1962)
- Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
- Mystery of the Red Jungle (1964)
- 633 Squadron (1964)
- Secret of the Sphinx (1964)
- Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill (1965)
- Seven Vengeful Women (1966)
- Five Golden Dragons (1967)
- Spy Today, Die Tomorrow (1967)
- The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)
- Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971)
- The Ghost Galleon (1974)
- Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974)
- The Adolescents (1975)