Overview
Eva Renzi (born Evelyn Renziehausen; 3 November 1944 - 16 August 2005) was a German actress.
Biography
Born in Berlin to a Danish father and a French mother, she enrolled in the Berlin Actors' Studio at age 16 and began appearing in plays in Germany. For eight months she played a maid in the German translation of Noël Coward's Dinner at Eight. She was married briefly and gave birth to her daughter Anouschka; when the marriage ended, she began a modelling career to support herself and her daughter. After modelling clothing in German magazines and newspapers, she was introduced to film audiences in Will Tremper's (1966) and made her international debut the same year in the British film Funeral in Berlin, the second Harry Palmer film, as Israeli agent Samantha Steel, appearing with Michael Caine.
Renzi was offered a leading role in the next planned James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, but Renzi declined the role, commenting in an interview in Newark Evening News that "Bond pictures are good for pretty girls but not for actresses. I would rather sell shoes." She turned down other roles, including an offer by director Orson Welles, due to her husband's jealousy. When she and Hubschmid began their separation, eventually leading to divorce, her career stagnated further.
She later featured with James Garner in The Pink Jungle (1968) as Alison Duquesne, and in the giallo thriller The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) as Monica Ranieri.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).