Björn Andrésen, the Swedish actor best known for his role as Tadzio in the 1971 film Death in Venice, has died at the age of 70. His death was announced on Sunday by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström, co-directors of the 2021 documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World. Petri told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that Andrésen died on Saturday, while Lindström remembered him as 'a brave person.' No cause of death was given.
Andrésen was born in Stockholm in 1955. After his mother's suicide when he was 10, he was raised by his grandmother, who pushed him into acting and modelling. At 15, he was cast by Italian director Luchino Visconti in Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann's novella. Visconti called him 'the most beautiful boy in the world,' a label Andrésen struggled with for the rest of his life. He later described the experience as negative, saying Visconti took him to a gay nightclub at age 16, which made him feel 'very uncomfortable.'
After Death in Venice, Andrésen went to Japan, where the film was a major hit. He became a pop star and model, experiencing Beatlemania-like hysteria. He also pursued music, becoming an accomplished pianist and musician. He continued acting in over 30 movies and TV series, mostly in Sweden, describing his career as 'chaos' and noting that Tadzio haunted him into adulthood.
In 2019, Andrésen appeared in Ari Aster's horror film Midsommar, playing an elderly man who sacrifices himself. He was delighted by the role, saying, 'Being killed in a horror movie is every boy's dream.' Andrésen had two children with his ex-wife, poet Suzanna Roman: a daughter, Robine, and a son, Elvin, who died of sudden infant death syndrome at nine months old.
