Maria Schneider will forever be remembered for igniting movie screens as a 19-year-old playing opposite Marlon Brando in the graphically sexual 1972 film Last Tango In Paris. The French actress, who appeared in more than two dozen films, died Thursday in Paris at the age of 58.
Susan King of 24 Frames sums Schneider up this way:
"The word that Maria Schneider died Thursday in Paris at the age of 58 resonates with baby boomers. For them she was a pivotal sexual icon of their youth. In 1973, Schneider was the next big thing. The wildest of wild childs who embraced the sexual revolution with open arms. She was the female lead opposite Marlon Brando in Bernardo Bertolucci's X-rated Last Tango in Paris. Schneider was so overtly sexual she made Brigitte Bardot look like a nun."The AP quotes her talent agency as saying she died "following a long illness."