Eva Renzi

Born Evelyn Reniehausen in Berlin in 1944 to a Danish industrialist's daughter and a French mother, she was orphaned in 1947 and educated at convent schools. At age 16, she enrolled in the Berlin Actors' Studio, beginning a career that would see her on stage, in films, and on television. Her early life included a brief marriage to a Brazilian bar owner, which ended shortly after the birth of her daughter Anouschka in 1964. To support herself, she turned to modelling in German magazines and newspapers.

Renzi made her film debut in Will Tremper's That Woman (1966) and appeared the same year in the British spy film Funeral in Berlin, opposite Michael Caine. She was offered a leading role in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, but she declined, saying, 'Bond pictures are good for pretty girls but not for actresses. I would rather sell shoes.' She also turned down roles due to her husband's jealousy. In 1973, she caused a sensation by traveling to India and joining the Rajneesh movement, which she later left, accusing its leader of fascist tendencies and drug abuse.

Her later career focused on stage work. In 1983, she was dismissed from a theater festival for calling President Karl Carstens an 'old Nazi.' In 2002, she staged a comeback in the play Amanda. Renzi was married to Swiss actor Paul Hubschmid from 1967 to 1980, and they appeared in several films together. She died of lung cancer in Berlin on August 16, 2005, at age 60, and was buried at Luisenfriedhof III. She was also the mother of actress Anouschka Renzi.