Germany's Kessler twins, who became dance stars in the 50s and 60s, die at 89

BERLIN – Alice and Ellen Kessler, twin dancers and singers who launched their career in the 1950s and performed with Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Harry Belafonte among others, have died, police in Germany said Tuesday. They were 89.

The death of the twins in Grünwald, a prosperous suburb of Munich where they shared a house, was reported by German newspaper Bild and news agency dpa on Monday, without named sources. Munich police on Tuesday confirmed the deaths, saying in an emailed statement that it was a “joint suicide.”

The German Society for Humane Dying confirmed it Tuesday. Assisted dying, under certain circumstances, has been legal in Germany since 2020. The law allows people to end their lives and to seek help from a third party as long as they aren’t subject to external influen