Alice and Ellen Kessler, the German twins, breathed their last in Munich at the age of 89.
The musical artists died by medically assisted death in order to remain inseparable until the end.
According to the German media Picturethey no longer “wanted to live” and “chose to end their lives together”.
After their deaths, Radio Monte-Carlo, the radio station that broadcasts from Monaco and Milan, paid tribute to the sisters in Italian, which translates as “Alice and Ellen Kessler left together, as they lived: inseparable.”
“Born in 1936, they were an absolute symbol of European entertainment, including music, dance and television. In Italy they became celebrities as the “legs of the nation”, icon.[s] elegance and stage presence since the 1950s.”
“A unique artistic couple, capable of leaving an indelible mark on the collective imagination,” he adds.
The duo has performed with Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte and Fred Astaire. They also learned to dance as children and applied their skills to the Leipzig Opera children’s ballet in 1947, the P.A. said.
Eight years later, while dancing in Düsseldorf in 1955, they were discovered by the director of the Lido cabaret in Paris, according to German news agency DPA International.
This launched an international career for the Kesslers, who moved to Rome, traveled the world and performed with luminaries.
The Kesslers worked into their 80s and told the outlet, “Being on the road as a duo has nothing but perks. You’re stronger together.”
Previously, in Bild, they had declared that they had “stipulated in [their] wills” that they wanted to be buried in the same urn, alongside their mother and a beloved dog.
