Maria Schneider (actress) a room in her house. Through Bardot, Schneider met people in the film business and Bardot introduced her to the William Morris Agency. She was 18 when she had her first break in 1970, appearing in "Madly", starring Alain Delon. Schneider gained international renown for her performance at the age of 19 in the sexually explicit "Last Tango in Paris" (1972), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. She performed several nude scenes in a graphic portrayal of anonymous sex with an older man. In an interview in 2007, Schneider said of Bertolucci: "He was fat and sweaty and very manipulative, both of
Maria Schneider (actress) a serious actress – she decided never to work nude again. Because of the scandal surrounding the film's release, Schneider's career was seriously damaged. She started struggling with depression, became a drug addict and made several suicide attempts. She later became a women's rights advocate, in particular fighting for more female film directors, more respect for female actors, and better representation of women in film and media. Criminal proceedings were brought against Bertolucci in Italy for the anal-sex scene; the film was sequestered by the censorship commission and all copies were ordered destroyed. An Italian court revoked Bertolucci's civil rights