German performers Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler, known internationally as the Kessler Twins, died together Monday through medically assisted means.
Their deaths, reported by the German newspaper Bild and confirmed by authorities, took place in Grünwald, a town near Munich where the sisters had lived in connected apartments.
Officials said only that both women, age 89, died in their shared residence.
Assisted dying is permitted under German law, and the Kesslers had arranged the process in advance through the German Society for Humane Dying (DGHS), CNN reported.
The organization said the twins first reached out more than a year earlier and later became members. DGHS spokesperson Wega Wetzel told CNN the sisters had been firm in their intentions.
"The decisive factor is likely to have been the desire to die together on a specific date," said Wetzel, who also said she did not know the detailed reasoning each sister provided.
Wetzel described their choices as the result of long preparation.
"Their desire to die was well-considered, long-standing, and free from any psychiatric crisis," Wetzel said.
The sisters were born in 1936 in the Nerchau region of Germany and began performing at a young age with the Leipzig Opera, according to Parade. Their work expanded to tours across Europe and the United States, where they danced and sang alongside well-known figures, including Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra.
They also worked with Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and Eddie Fisher.
At 19, they joined the Bluebell Girls at the Lido in Paris. Italian television soon made them household names.
They appeared on shows such as "Giardino d'inverno" and "Studio Uno," and a routine known as "Da-da-un-pa," staged by director Antonello Falqui, became one of their most recognizable performances.
The act helped seal their reputation as icons and led to their nickname, "the nation's legs."
Earlier this year, the sisters said they wished to have their ashes placed together in one urn, along with the remains of their mother and their dog, Yello.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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