Christiane Schmidtmer (24 December 1939 – 13 March 2003) was a German actress, fashion model, nude model, and memoirist. Biography Early life Christiane Schmidtmer was born in Mannheim, Germany, to Gertrud and Jakob Schmidtmer on Christmas Eve 1939. She took acting lessons in Munich and worked in the stage in Germany for around 4 years (1961-1963), then Christiane turned to photographic modeling for several German pornographic magazine and later, Playboy. Before acting in the movie, she also modeled for advertising companies, namely Max Factor cosmetics. Her father disappeared in Russia during the war. The family later relocated from Mannheim to nearby Heidelberg after her mother remarried. At the age of 17, her mother sent her to London, where Christiane attended St Giles School to learn English. During her stay in England, she met a powerful man of British royalty, who offered to send her to the Royal Academy of Arts if – in return – she would sleep with him. She packed her bags and left for Germany the same night. After returning to Heidelberg, she attended the local Hölderlin-Gymnasium (academic high school) from which she graduated during the late 1950s. In 1959 against strong family opposition – her mother wanted her to follow a career in medicine – Christiane Schmidtmer moved to Munich, where she began taking acting lessons. During that time, she performed in afternoon stage productions for children. Career Schmidtmer worked onstage in Germany from 1961–63, then turned to photographic modelling for German fashion and nude magazines and later, Playboy in the USA. She modelled for advertising companies, namely Max Factor Cosmetics, before she started her movie career. She was hired as their featured model and introduced at the New York World's Fair in 1964 followed by an American tour with visits to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago. After her return to Los Angeles, she met polyglot language teacher and publisher Michel Thomas for the first time in August 1965 at the Chateau Marmont Hotel. The two began a long love relationship a short time later. She appeared in German TV and movie productions, such as Rolf Hädrich's Stop Train 349. During the filming in Berlin and England, she befriended co-star José Ferrer. The friendship lasted until Ferrer's death in 1992. He later recommended her to Stanley Kramer for his production of Ship of Fools, her first US film in which she played Ferrer's beautiful mistress.