Björn Andrésen, the Swedish actor who became internationally renowned for his role in Death in Venice, has passed away at the age of 70.
His death was confirmed on Sunday by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri, the directors of the 2021 documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, which offered a poignant look into Andrésen's life, per The Guardian.
Petri remembered him as “a brave person,” reflecting on a life marked by both fame and personal struggles.
From Stockholm to Global Stardom: The Rise of Björn Andrésen
Born in Stockholm in 1955, Andrésen’s life was marked by early tragedy, per Hello! Magazine.
His mother tragically took her own life when he was only 10 years old, leading him to be raised by his grandmother, who pushed him into acting and modeling, hoping to make her family famous.
At just 15, Andrésen’s life took a sharp turn when he was discovered by Italian director Luchino Visconti, who was searching across Europe for a young actor to star in his film adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.
Andrésen was cast as Tadzio, a beautiful boy who becomes the object of an older man’s obsession, played by Dirk Bogarde.
The film, which premiered in London in 1971, catapulted Andrésen to fame almost overnight. However, it also brought with it a title that would follow him for the rest of his life.
Visconti famously called him "the most beautiful boy in the world," a moniker that would come to haunt Andrésen.
The Dark Side of Fame: Struggles Behind the Spotlight
While the film's success made Andrésen a household name, it also came with significant emotional and psychological tolls.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2003, Andrésen described the intense pressure and exploitation he felt during the filming of Death in Venice.
“I felt like an exotic animal in a cage,” he confessed, highlighting the deep discomfort he experienced throughout the process.
His tumultuous relationship with Visconti also left scars. Andrésen revealed in a 2021 interview that Visconti’s behavior, particularly taking him to a gay nightclub at the age of 16, made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
“The waiters at the club… looked at me uncompromisingly as if I was a nice meaty dish,” Andrésen recalled.
“I knew I couldn’t react. It would have been social suicide. But it was the first of many such encounters.”
The lasting effects of these experiences led him to describe the role that made him famous as one that “screwed up my life quite decently.”
In an interview years later, Andrésen openly criticized the director, saying: “I would have told Visconti to ‘f*** off’ if he were still alive. He didn’t give a fuck about my feelings.”
Andrésen also noted the general atmosphere of exploitation in the film industry, stating: “I’ve never seen so many fascists and a**holes as there are in film and theatre.”
Fame, Music, and Personal Loss
Despite the pain associated with his early fame, Andrésen’s career did not end with Death in Venice.
After the film, he moved to Japan, where he became a pop sensation, gaining a large female following.
The success mirrored the hysteria around the Beatles in America, something Andrésen likened to his own experience in the country.
However, Andrésen's true passion was music. He became an accomplished pianist and musician, but his acting career continued, albeit primarily in Sweden.
He appeared in over 30 films and TV series, though he often spoke of the “chaos” in his career and how Tadzio’s shadow haunted him throughout his adult life.
Reflecting on his career trajectory, he said, “My career is one of the few that started at the absolute top and then worked its way down. That was lonely.”
The weight of his early fame and the pressures it brought led to periods of personal hardship, including struggles with addiction and depression.
Yet, Andrésen eventually found a sense of peace in his later years. In 2019, he appeared in a small but memorable role in Ari Aster’s horror film Midsommar, where he played an elderly man who sacrifices himself in a pagan ritual.
Andrésen seemed to take delight in the role, saying: “Being killed in a horror movie is every boy’s dream.”
Throughout his life, Andrésen experienced profound personal tragedy, including the loss of his infant son, Elvin, to sudden infant death syndrome when he was just nine months old.
He is survived by his daughter, Robine, from his marriage to poet Suzanna Roman.