“I felt like I was surrounded by a swarm of bats,” Andrésen recalls during the promotion of “Death in Venice” in Kristin Lindstrom and Kristian Petri’s documentary, which premiered a few years ago at the Sundance Film Festival. “It was a real nightmare,” he describes the time 50 years later. The fact that as a 15-year-old he became a sex object for many people had a disastrous effect on his life.
“The most beautiful boy in the world” grew up without parents
In 1970, Luchino Visconti visited many countries to find Tadzio in the film. His film was supposed to be an adaptation of a novel by Thomas Mann, published in 1912, about the aging acclaimed writer Gustav von Aschenbach, who during a trip to Venice falls in love with a handsome Polish boy with honey-colored hair staying there with his family. After interviewing over 150 teens, he finally found his idea of ”perfect beauty.” His choice fell on Bjorn, born in 1955 in Stockholm. The movie “Death in Venice” premiered a year later.
Björn Johan Andrésen grew up virtually without parents. He never met his father, he didn’t even know his name. When he was 10, he lost his mother. She disappeared in 1965, in 1966 her body was found and the police decided that she had committed suicide. Bjorn and his sister ended up in the care of their grandmother, who – as he told documentary filmmakers a few years ago – liked having a movie star as a grandson. The teenager himself treated working on the film as an adventure. It was only after the premiere that the “nightmare” was about to begin.
Years later, he recalled Visconti: Now I see how this son of a bitch sexualized me
In 1970, he had only one film to his credit, but when “Death in Venice” was shown to the world, the world became as obsessed with the teenager as von Aschenbach was with Tadzio. It was written about him that the frames with his participation could hang in the Louvre, and he quickly adopted the term, whose author was to be Visconti: “the most beautiful boy in the world”. The director used to say: “True beauty exists. Looking at such beauty is like looking at death.” Years later, Anderson said of the director: “Watching this movie now, I see how that son of a bitch sexualized me.”
As part of the promotion of the film, Visconti had, among others, fuel rumors that the teenager is homosexual, and take him to a gay club, despite the fact that 15-year-old Andersen felt uncomfortable there. For three years he “owned” the image of a boy who, as Andersen recalls in the documentary, felt very lonely at that time, although many journalists milled outside his door and hundreds of people wrote letters to him – many of them young women and older men.
In Japan, on the other hand, he aroused great interest among young girls, and his numerous visits to this country were later described, comparing the interest that the actor aroused to beatlemania. Andersen recorded several songs in Japanese, became the country’s first Western pop star, and appeared in photo shoots and commercials. People who should be looking after the underage artist and his career began to stuff Bjorn with drugs so that his body could cope with the many hours of effort during subsequent photo shoots …
His face inspired a whole generation of manga creators. Riyoko Ikeda admits that she completely based her Lady Oscar, a girl dressed in men’s clothes, the heroine of “The Rose of Versailles” on him. The mangaka draws the next installments of the story, which takes place during the French Revolution, for over 40 years. Based on the series, Toei Animation created an anime in 1979.
Death in Venice is considered a curse
Andersen failed to avoid the pitfalls of great popularity gained at a young age. Alcohol showed up. He was invited to Paris, where he spent several years. On account of an elderly man and others like him, who showered him with gifts and invited him to elegant restaurants and clubs, wanting to show up with “the most beautiful boy in the world” by his side. Andersen was then getting 500 francs a week pocket money just for being there. Fortunately, he avoided sexual harassment, but the whole situation took a heavy toll on him. He went to acting studies, attended castings, but – as he says in “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World”, which can be seen in Poland on several VOD services – his career did not help him “overcome the inner darkness”. More and more often there were also words of criticism due to what was previously so valued – for beauty. Later, he played in several more films (including “Midsommar. In broad daylight” from 2019), he also focused on music. He is a composer and professional pianist.
In 1983, he married the poet Susanna Roman. The marriage lasted four years. In 1984, their daughter Robine was born and they had a son, Elvin, who sadly died at the age of nine months as a result of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This tragedy also had a negative impact on Andersen’s mental health. He also had an alcohol problem.
He is not rich (during the filming of the 2021 documentary, he was even threatened with eviction, he also tried to mend his weakened relationship with his daughter). He talks about Visconti’s film, which made him a star, as if it were a curse that affected his whole life.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
