Alice and Ellen Kessler, twin dancers and singers who launched their profession within the Nineteen Fifties and carried out with Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Harry Belafonte, amongst others, have died, police in Germany mentioned Tuesday. They have been 89.
The loss of life of the twins in Grünwald, a affluent suburb of Munich the place they shared a home, was reported by German newspaper Bild and information company dpa on Monday, with out named sources. Munich police on Tuesday confirmed the deaths, saying in an emailed assertion that it was a “joint suicide.” In a assertion, the German Society for Humane Dying confirmed to Bavarian Broadcasting that it was an assisted suicide.
Goettert / AP
The Kessler twins discovered to bop at a younger age and joined the Leipzig Opera kids’s ballet. In 1952, after they have been 16, their household fled to West Germany, the place they danced in a revue theater in Düsseldorf. In 1955, the sisters have been found by the director of the Lido cabaret theater in Paris, the place their worldwide profession took off.
Victor Crawshaw/Mirrorpix through Getty Pictures 
Within the Sixties, the Kessler twins toured worldwide, moved to Rome and carried out with Astaire, Sinatra and Belafonte. They turned down a suggestion to seem with Elvis Presley in “Viva Las Vegas” in 1964 for worry of changing into outlined by musical movies in America, dpa reported.
Gerolamo di Majo / AP 
Even at 80, the sisters appeared on stage in a musical. Alice mentioned shortly earlier than their eightieth birthday that they in all probability would not have managed to carry out for thus lengthy alone.
Being a twosome “solely has benefits,” she mentioned. “Collectively you are stronger.”
Requested in regards to the secret of their success, she remarked: “Self-discipline, day-after-day. Gratitude, repeatedly. Humility, not cockiness. And togetherness. Till loss of life.”
Gisela Schober / Getty Pictures 
The twins informed the German tabloid Bild in April 2024 that they wished to be buried in the identical urn, together with the ashes of their mom and canine. “That is what we stipulated in our wills,” Ellen Kessler informed Bild.
Assisted suicide is authorized in 9 nations in Europe in addition to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Cuba and Ecuador, based on the nonprofit Dignity in Dying.
Within the U.S., dying with medical help is authorized in 10 states and Washington, D.C., however a minimum of eight different states are contemplating comparable legal guidelines this yr, based on Demise with Dignity.
At present, some New York lawmakers and advocates are calling for Gov. Kathy Hochul to signal the “Medical Support In Dying” invoice, also referred to as MAID. The invoice would legalize giving terminally ailing grownup sufferers who’ve six months or much less to stay the choice to have a physician prescribe them a combination of a deadly remedy.
Should you or somebody you realize is in emotional misery or a suicidal disaster, you may attain the 988 Suicide & Disaster Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can too chat with the 988 Suicide & Disaster Lifeline right here.
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