Actor Called 'The World's Most Beautiful Boy' Dies At 70
Oct 27, 2025
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The sad news of Bjorn Andersen's death was reported by Christian Petrie, who co-directed the 2021 documentary `The Most Beautiful Boy in the World' on the 26th (local time) through the Swedish daily newspaper 'Dagens Nyheter'. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Bjorn Andersen caught the attention of the world in 1971 when he played the role of Taccio, the boy the main character is obsessed with in Italian master Lucino Visconti's film Death in Venice. At the film's premiere, director Lucino Visconti praised him, calling him "the most beautiful boy in the world", and the expression became a nickname to follow throughout his life. But Bjorn Andersen suffered greatly from it.
In several interviews, he revealed his uncomfortable experience with Lucino Visconti and the negative impact he experienced when he gained worldwide fame overnight.
He revealed that when he was just 16 at the time, Lucino Visconti took him to a gay nightclub with adult men.
He said "The way the waiters looked at me was as if they were looking at 'a well-prepared chunk of meat'"I thought it would be socially over if I reacted in that situation. However, it has been repeated many times since then."
He said he wasn't a homosexual, but the experience of being objectified in such a way at a young age was very unpleasant.
After the film's release, Lucino Visconti never contacted Bjorn Andersen again, and Bjorn Andersen has repeatedly revealed how much the label 'the most beautiful boy' suppressed him personally and professionally.
Bjorn Andersen told the Guardian that "Lucino Visconti would have cursed if he were alive. He didn't care about my feelings"He was a cultural predator who could sacrifice anyone for the sake of art."
He also lamented the reality that he remembered only as that one work for the rest of his life, saying "Death in Venice has completely ruined my life."
In fact, Andersen was a competent pianist and musician. After the film, he became a pop star in Japan and continued performing and touring with the dance band Sven Erics.
Afterwards, directors Christian Petrie and Christina Lindström produced a documentary titled 'The Most Beautiful Boy in the World'. The film sheds light on Andersen's life and the tragic events he went through, winning the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary category at the Sundance Film Festival.
Directed by Christian Petri, director "Bjorn Andersen was a brave man"I wanted him to tell his story himself, and the process was both pleasant and painful."
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He married poet Susanna Roman and had two children, but her son Elvin died of sudden death syndrome (SIDS) when he was nine months old. At the time, Bjorn Andersen was drunk and lying next to his son, and later fell into deep depression and alcoholism.
Meanwhile, Andersen appeared in more than 30 films and dramas during his lifetime, and also appeared in Ari Astor's 2019 film 'Midsommar'.
tokkig@sportschosun.com
