This sultry brunette actress began appearing in secondary parts in 1969 but came to prominence opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci's study of existential eroticism, "Last Tango in Paris" (1972). Maria Schneider also starred opposite Jack Nicholson in Antonioni's "The Passenger" (1975) before her career was tarnished by scandal and drug use. Her high profile relationship with American heiress Joan Townsend had a negative effect as well and her subsequent career has consisted of mostly undistinguished, low-budget European films along the lines of "Memoirs of a French Whore" (1979) and "Mamma Dracula" (1980). In 1992, Schneider appeared in the controversial French film "Les Nuits fauve/Savage Nights" and was tapped by Franco Zeffirelli to play Mrs. Rochester in "Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre" (1996). More recently, she was featured as a woman who has faith in miracles in "Something to Believe In" (1998).
Family
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Father: Daniel Gelin. Schneider did not meet her father until she was 16
Significant Others
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Companion: Joan Townsend. had relationship in the 1970s
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Companion: . Schneider revealed she has been in a romantic realtionship since c. 1981 but declined to identify with whom
Milestones
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1969 Film acting debut in Cesar Grand Blaise (directed by Jean Dewever)
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1973 Came to international prominence starring opposite Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris , directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
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1975 Appeared opposite Jack Nicholson in The Passenger
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1984 TV debut in Buio Nella Valle (RAI II)
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1992 Had featured role in the controversial French film Les Nuits Fauves/Savage Nights
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1996 Appeared as Mrs. Rochester in Charlotte Bronte s Jane Eyre
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1998 Co-starred in Something to Believe In
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Appeared in a number of low-budget French or Italian films
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Made stage acting debut at age 15
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Raised by her mother near the French border with Germany