Björn Andrésen, Star of 'Death in Venice' Who Denounced Its Director, Dies at 70

Björn Andrésen, who as a teen starred in the controversial film "Death in Venice" and later spoke movingly of his conflicted feelings over being sexualized at such a young age, has died.

The Swedish actor died at 70 on October 25, Dagens Nyheter reports. No cause was offered.

Andrésen created a sensation in Luchino Visconti's film adaptation of Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" (1971). He had been 15 at the time it was shot. In it, he played Tadzio, a boy who would become a point of fixation by an older man (film veteran Dirk Bogarde).

He was dubbed by the director "the most beautiful boy in the world," a tag that haunted him, and that became the title of a 2021 documentary about his life that was a prize winner at Sundance.

In the film, Andrésen spoke of being taken to nightclubs and being treated like a grown man by adults who should have known better.

In spite of the allegedly inappropriate attention Visconti paid him during the shoot and while the acclaimed film was being promoted, the director never spoke to him again, leaving Andrésen feeling like "an exotic animal in a cage" who had been left to his own devices to figure out how to escape.

Andrésen grew up to be a musician, an accomplished pianist, but always felt weighed down by his reputation. He also acted occasionally, including a splashy appearance in the 2019 hit "Midsommar," in which he was wholly unrecognizable.

He endured other, deeper tragedies, including losing both parents by age 10. He fathered two children with his ex-wife, Susanna Roman, one of whom died of SIDS. He also battled substance abuse.

Andrésen is survived by his daughter, Robine.