Actor and musician Björn Andrésen, known as the 'world's most beautiful boy' from the film 'Death in Venice', has died at age 70. The death is confirmed by director Kristian Petri, who describes him as a brave person. Andrésen's life was marked by international fame, tragedies, and a struggle with addiction.
Björn Andrésen died on Saturday, October 26, 2025, at the age of 70, according to reports from Dagens Nyheter. Born in 1955, he gained international breakthrough at 15 in Luchino Visconti's 1971 adaptation of Thomas Mann's 'Death in Venice', playing the boy Tadzio. The director called him the 'world's most beautiful boy' at the time, leading to global fame and trips, including to Japan.
After the premiere, Andrésen described in a 2021 interview feeling exploited: 'It felt like I was some kind of meat thrown to the wolves in a way.' He sank into depression and alcohol abuse, partly due to his childhood without a father, his mother's suicide when he was ten, and his son's sudden infant death syndrome in the 1980s. During a trip to Japan at age 16, he was pressured to take drugs to perform.
Andrésen's life was depicted in the 2021 documentary 'World's Most Beautiful Boy', directed by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström. 'He was a brave person', Petri tells DN, emphasizing the fantastic moments during the multi-year filming. Andrésen had a small role in Roy Andersson's 'A Love Story' in 1970, attended drama school in Stockholm in the 1980s, and played keyboard in the dance band Sven-Erics. He later appeared in films such as 'Agnes Cecilia – A Strange Story', 'The Laser Man', and 'Gentlemen & Gangsters'.
Friend Jonas Wester remembers him from the bar Älgen in Hornstull: 'He was warm but firm.' Andrésen found solace in God and poems by Gunnar Ekelöf after his addiction period. In another 2021 interview, he commented on child exploitation in the film industry: 'You use them and cuddle with them, then just throw them to the wolves.'