Anita Pallenberg <!-- READ THIS BEFORE CHANGING TO 1944: 1942 date is correct, see talk page -->(6 April 1942 – 13 June 2017) was an Italian-German film actress, artist, and model. A style icon and "It girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, Pallenberg was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones: she was the romantic partner of the Stones multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones and later, from 1967 to 1980, the partner of Stones guitarist Keith Richards, with whom she had three children.

Early life

Pallenberg was born on <!-- READ THIS BEFORE CHANGING TO 1944, 1942 date is correct, see talk page --> 6 April 1942 in Rome, according to most sources. However, after her death in 2017, several news sources such as the New York Times reported that Marlon Richards had corrected her place of birth, stating that his mother had in fact been born in Hamburg. Her parents were Arnold "Arnaldo" Pallenberg, a German-Italian sales agent, amateur singer, and hobbyist painter, and Paula Wiederhold, a German embassy secretary. who were renowned as furniture manufacturers and patrons of the arts, later sent her to a boarding school in Germany so that she would learn the language.

Pallenberg was expelled from school when she was 16, after which she spent time in Rome with the Dolce Vita crowd, and then went to New York City to hang out at Andy Warhol's The Factory. She then began her career as a fashion model in Paris.

Film and fashion

Pallenberg appeared in over a dozen films over a 40-year span. One of her first appearances was as the Great Tyrant in Roger Vadim's science fiction film Barbarella (1968); She played the sleeper wife of Michel Piccoli in Dillinger Is Dead (1969), directed by Marco Ferreri. Pallenberg also had roles in the German crime thriller A Degree of Murder (1967), which featured music composed by Brian Jones; the cult film Candy (1968) as James Coburn's possessive nurse;

In 1985, for the video of "Wild Boys," Duran Duran used a clip of Pallenberg from

Barbarella. She portrayed "The Queen" in the comedy-drama Mister Lonely by Harmony Korine, and played a character named Sin in Go Go Tales (both 2007).

In the 1990s, Pallenberg returned to education to study fashion. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in London in 1994 with a fashion and textile degree. while the NBC television show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006) included a story arc in which the character Harriet Hayes was hired to play Pallenberg in a film.

The Rolling Stones

Romantic relationships

Pallenberg is known for her romantic involvement with Rolling Stones band members Brian Jones and later Keith Richards. Pallenberg first met the band in 1965 in Munich, where she was working on a modelling assignment. Jones spoke German and they began a friendship that turned into a two-year relationship. She later recalled that they took a lot of acid during this time, and it caused Jones to have nightmares. She ended her relationship with Jones in 1967 after he became violent toward her during a vacation in Morocco, where he was then hospitalised. He died in 1969.

In Morocco, Keith Richards saw Jones assaulting Pallenberg, pulled her away and then took her back to England, where she moved in with him.

There were rumours that Pallenberg also had a brief affair with Mick Jagger during the filming of Performance and Keith Richards states in his autobiography Life that it happened. Pallenberg denied further affairs, both in March 2007 when Performance was released on DVD and again during an interview in 2008. Pallenberg played an unusual role in the male-dominated world of rock music in the late 1960s, with Jagger respecting her opinion enough for tracks on Beggars Banquet to be remixed after she criticised them. In the 2002 compilation release of Forty Licks, Pallenberg is credited as singing background vocals on "Sympathy for the Devil".

Tony Sanchez's account of his time as Richards's bodyguard and drug dealer mentions Pallenberg's spiritual practices: "She was obsessed with black magic and began to carry a string of garlic with her everywhere—even to bed." Sanchez goes on to describe Pallenberg as having been "like a life-force, a woman so powerful, so full of strength and determination that men came to lean on her".

Jo Bergman, who was the band's personal assistant from 1967 to 1973, said of Pallenberg: "Anita is a Rolling Stone. She, Mick, Keith and Brian were the Rolling Stones. Her influence has been profound. She keeps things crazy."

Pallenberg was a friend of singer Marianne Faithfull, Jagger's girlfriend in the late 1960s. The youth had been employed as a part-time groundsman. Richards was in Paris recording with the Rolling Stones and Pallenberg was arrested; however, the death was ruled a suicide in 1980.

Personal life

Pallenberg and Richards had three children: son Marlon Leon Sundeep (born 10 August 1969), daughter Dandelion Angela (who goes by her middle name; born 17 April 1972), and son Tara Jo Jo Gunne (born 26 March 1976 – 6 June 1976). Tara Jo Jo died in his cot ten weeks after birth; the cause of death has been stated as SIDS or pneumonia. She became pregnant again, with Marlon, during the filming. becoming a main ingredient of the documentary film Catching Fire. In the film, she speaks about her family, saying that her father was a classical musician and her great grandfather was the painter Arnold Böcklin.

Health problems

Pallenberg suffered from hepatitis C, and had two hip surgeries, including a hip replacement, which caused her to walk with a limp.

Death

Pallenberg died on 13 June 2017, aged 75, due to complications from hepatitis C. She is survived by her two children and five grandchildren.<!-- NOTE: Pallenberg was NOT his wife or "common-law wife"; England does not recognise common-law marriage. seeCommon law marriage#England and Wales -->

Legacy

Pallenberg is the subject of the 2024 documentary film Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg.

Filmography

  • A Degree of Murder (Mord und Totschlag, 1967) as Marie
  • Wonderwall (1968) as Girl at Party (uncredited)
  • Barbarella (1968) as The Great Tyrant
  • Candy (1968) as Nurse Bullock
  • Dillinger Is Dead (Dillinger è morto, 1969) as Ginette
  • Michael Kohlhaas – Der Rebell (1969) as Katrina – Marketenderin
  • Performance (1970)
  • Le berceau de cristal (The Crystal Cradle) (1976)
  • Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998) as Casino
  • Absolutely Fabulous (2001, Episode: "Donkey") as Devil
  • Mister Lonely (2007) as La Copine
  • Stones in Exile (2010, Documentary) as Herself
  • 4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011) as Sky's Mother (final film role)

Bibliography

  • Fabrice Gaignault, Égéries Sixties, Paris, Éditions Fayard, 2006

References