Austrian actor Helmut Berger, an icon of Luchino Visconti’s films, died at the age of 78.

Actor Helmut Berger, known for his roles in several films by the legendary Italian director Luchino Visconti, died on Thursday in his native Salzburg, reports the Austrian news agency APA. berger was one of the biggest stars of European cinema In the 1960s and 1970s, his followers considered him one of the most attractive men in the world.

On May 29, the actor, who He openly defined himself as bisexual. he should have been 79 years old. His agent, Helmut Werner, told APA that Berger died early Thursday “peacefully, if surprisingly.” The actor has participated in films such as “The Fall of the Gods”, “Ludwig”, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Ashburn”, “Faceless” and “The Godfather III”, among others.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Berger made films with Hollywood stars such as Elisabeth Taylor, Henry Ford, Burt Lancaster or Romy Schneider. For years, Berger was visconti lover, his mentor and one of the great film directors of the time, and after his death in 1976, the actor fell into a deep depression.

In 1994, he married the Italian actress Francesca Guidato, from whom he divorced about 15 years later. For many critics, Helmut Berger symbolized the breaking down of sexual taboos in European cinema, playing narcissistic and bisexual characters.