Born Sybille Johanna Danninger, on May 24, 1952, in Salzburg, Austria. Reportedly 5' 7".

Of all the forgotten and forgettable actresses of yore featured on this site, Sybil Danning is one you actually might remember — even if you can’t remember any of her films.

Tall, blonde, and big-chested, Sybil was first moderately adored for her role of beautiful, frequently naked, but otherwise generic bombshell that she played throughout the 70s in countless crappy European sex comedies and romances like The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried and The Loves of a French Pussycat. All this changed in 1980 when she got her big break as an almost-naked, breast-heaving space Valkyrie in Battle Beyond the Stars, a film that officially marked not only her trading up from European b-movies to American b-movies, but the birth of her new and most memorable identity: the sharp-featured, icy-eyed Teutonic Amazon, a role she played in one form or another for the rest of her career.

The 80s were Sybil’s golden age, the era of Chained Heat, They’re Playing with Fire, and Young Lady Chatterley 2. Sybil was variously hailed as the queen of the Bs, the rip-away bra queen, and, more generously, the female Clint Eastwood. Between her popularity in b-films and her guest appearances in popular TV shows, it seemed just a matter of time before Sybil would Rambo her way into mainstream pop culture and reign supreme as America’s newest, hottest female action film star.

But though she had been crowned queen of her particular genre by many a critic, by the end of the 80s the queen was effectively dead with hardly so much as a blip on the pop cultural radar. When asked in interviews what went wrong, Sybil explains that:

• Her career momentum was robbed of much of its force when a serious back injury in 1990 kept her out of service for a year.
• Conservative 80s feminism had not yet recognized the Ass-Whooping Hot Chick archetype as a model of empowerment, and criticized Sybil for relying so heavily on her sex appeal (and especially her frequent nudity).
• Gigs that might have led to greatness were continually sabotaged by circumstances. Sybil almost got to get on the “erotic thriller” bandwagon that was so lucrative in the early 90s, for example, but the guy who okayed half the budget for the film she had in mind left the company, so the film was never made, nor did any other erotic thriller featuring Sybil get off the ground. She almost got to play Vasquez in James Cameron’s Aliens — the character was to be renamed “Dietrich”, switching with one of the other soldiers — but British Equity insisted that Cameron use a British citizen for the role. And she almost got to star in a remake of Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, but the director decided to make Not of This Earth with Traci Lords instead. And she almost got to play the Maud Adams character in Octopussy. And she was almost in the teen sex farce Screwballs. And she was almost in...

But the real reason for Danning’s disappearance was probably:

• Her age. While Sybil’s body still looked like a comic book fantasy at the time her career in the U.S. was in full swing, her face betrayed the reality that she was well into her 30s. (Remember that sexkitten years are somewhat like dog years.) This, I believe, limited her already narrow Sexy Amazon niche to older, more authoritarian MILF roles like Queen, Warden, and Seductress of Minors — interesting roles all, but not ones for which there is often a tremendous demand in Hollywood.
• The myth of the Ass-Whooping Hot Chick. Box office gold for Russ Meyer, but so politicized in the Gloria Steinem era that the archetype became unmarketable except when wrapped in a Lysenkoist mantle of “women are better than men” ideology. The novelty of these über-women — Jamie Sommers, Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, Xena, Nikita, Dark Angel — usually wears off after three or so seasons (or just one, as in the case of Birds of Prey), partially because of the lameness of the stories, partially because of the insistent hammering of the simplistic, faux feminist ideology, and partially because many of these shows start to buy into their own marketing propaganda after a while and believe that their fans are mostly little girls and women seeking rolemodels of empowered women, with the result that they show less and less cleavage on the show and thereby give the male majority of their fan base less and less reason to watch.

  Sybil started to fall into the same folly in her attempt to become the female Clint Eastwood she so much wanted to be, and by the time she made L.A. Bounty, a movie she wrote, produced, and starred in, it became apparent that she would not be naked on film again any time soon. And that, more than anything else, is the real smoking gun in the death of Sybil’s career, for no one famous for baring her chest to the world can decide to keep it covered from now on and expect her fame to continue.

Critics like to look nostalgically back and see Sybil Danning as a bold, campy trailblazer for more recent and better known actresses like Lucy Lawless and Peta Wilson, unappreciated in her own time but certainly marketable now if only she were younger. This seems a tad too kind to me. I like Sybil Danning as much as the next guy who grew up in the 80s, but given that Sybil didn’t make that much of an impact on (clothed) mainstream culture during her ten-year American tour of duty, it’s probably more accurate to say that Lucy and Peta are modern variations of Wonder Woman and Emma Peel while Sybil was the bold, campy, and misunderstood trailblazer for the campy and not-quite-mainstream Julie Strain.

Also sprach Golem.

Film

• Grindhouse (2007) .... Herself
• Ruger: L.A. Bounty 2 (2000) .... Ruger
• Herbatel (1999)
• L.A. Bounty (1989) .... Ruger
• Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) .... Queen Lara (segment “Amazon Women on the Moon”)
• Warrior Queen (1987) .... Berenice, the Roman ambassador/swordwomen
• The Phantom Empire (1986) .... Alien Queen
• Reform School Girls (1986) .... Sutter
• Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985) .... Stirba
• Malibu Express (1985) .... Contessa Luciana
• The Tomb (1985) .... Jade
• Young Lady Chatterley II (1985) .... Judith Grimmer
• Euer Weg führt durch die Hölle (1984; aka “Jungle Warriors”) .... Angel
• Panther Squad (1984; aka “Female Mercenaries II”; French/Belgian) .... Ilona
• They're Playing with Fire (1984) .... Diane Stevens
• Chained Heat (1983; U.S./German) .... Erika
• Hercules (1983; aka “The Adventures of Hercules”) .... Ariadne
• Private Passions (1983) .... Katherine
• The Seven Magnificent Gladiators (1983) .... Julia
• Julie Darling (1982; aka “Bad Blood”; aka “Daughter of Death”) .... Susan
• S.A.S. à San Salvador (1982) .... Countess Alexandra Vogel
• Talking Walls (1982; aka “Motel Vacancy”) .... Bathing Beauty
• The Salamander (1981) .... Lili Anders
• Separate Ways (1981) .... Mary
• Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) .... Saint-Exmin
• Cuba Crossing (1980; aka “Kill Castro”; aka “The Mercenaries”; aka “Sweet Dirty Tony”) .... Veronica
• Il Giorno del Cobra (1980; aka “Day of the Cobra”) .... Brenda
• How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980) .... Charlotte
• The Man with Bogart's Face (1980; aka “Sam Marlowe, Private Eye”) .... Cynthia
• Nightkill (1980) .... Monika Childs
• The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979) .... Amy
• Meteor (1979) .... Girl Skier
• Cat in the Cage (1978) .... Susan Khan
• Crossed Swords (1978; Panamanian) .... Mother Canty
• Mivtza Yonatan (1977; aka “Operation Thunderbolt”) .... Halima
• Albino (1976; aka “Death in the Sun”; aka “The Night of Askari”; aka “Whispering Death”) .... Sally
• Diamante Lobo (1976; aka “A Bullet from God”; aka “God's Gun”) .... Jenny
• Geheimnisträger, Der (1976)
• Folies bourgeoises (1975; aka “The Twist”) .... Jacques' Secretary
• L'Important c'est d'aimer (1975; aka “The Main Thing Is to Love”) .... Violaine
• Opération Lady Marlène (1975; aka “Operation Lady Marlene”) .... Georgetta
• Arrivano Joe e Margherito (1974; aka “Run, Run, Joe!”) .... Betty
• The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974) .... Eugenie
• Les Noces de porcelaine (1974; aka “The Porcelain Anniversary”)
• L'Emigrante (1973; aka “Little Funny Guy”)
• The Three Musketeers: The Queen's Diamonds (1973; British) .... Eugenie
• Bluebeard (1972) .... The Prostitute
• Blutjung und liebeshungrig (1972; aka “Naughty Nymphs”; aka “Passion Pill Swingers”; aka “Don't Tell Daddy”) .... Elizabeth
• La Dama rossa uccide sette volte (1972; aka “Blood Feast”; aka “The Corpse Which Didn't Want to Die”)
• Gelobt sei, was hart macht (1972; aka “Praised Be What Hardens You”) .... Phyllilia
• L'Amante dell'orsa maggiore (1972; aka “Lover of the Great Bear”; aka “The Smugglers”)
• Mädchen mit der heißen Masche, Das (1972; aka “Loves of a French Pussycat”) .... Andrea
• Ehemänner-Report (1971) .... Sybille
• Goldene Banane von Bad Porno, Die (1971)
• Hausfrauen-Report 1: Unglaublich, aber wahr (1971; aka “Housewives Report”) .... Frau Heimann
• L'Occhio nel labirinto (1971; aka “Eye In the Labyrinth”)
• Siegfried und das sagenhafte Liebesleben der Nibelungen (1971; aka “The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried”; aka “Maiden Quest”) .... Kriemhild
• Urlaubsreport — Worüber Reiseleiter nicht sprechen dürfen (1971; aka “Holidays Report”)
• Wir haben abgetrieben, Herr Staatsanwalt (1971; aka “In Trouble”)
• Liebesmarkt in Dänemark (1970; aka “Golden Bananas”) .... Diane
• Sam's Song (1969; aka “Line of Fire”; aka “The Swap”)
• Komm nur, mein liebstes Vögelein (1968; aka “Come Now, My Dear Little Bird”) .... Lorelei

• The Hitchhiker: Face to Face (1984; HBO; aka “The Hitchhiker, Vol. 4”) .... Gloria Loring

• Superboy: “Succubus” (5/20/1989) .... Pamela Dare / Succubus
• Women Behind Bars Week (1986) .... Host
• Street Hawk: “Vegas Run” (1/25/1985) .... Linda Martin
• V: “Visitor's Choice” (11/23/1984) .... Mary Kruger
• The Fall Guy: “Prisoner” (10/10/1984) .... Karina
• Simon & Simon: “Bon Voyage, Alonso” (12/15/1983) .... Marla
• Masquerade (1983) .... KGB Agent
• The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour (1983) .... Guest Panelist
• Saturn Awards (1981)
• Alien Attack (1976) .... Host
• Derrick: “Zeichen der Gewalt” (5/4/1975) .... Irina Hausmann

• Adventure Video: A Man Called Rage (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: Blood & Guts (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: Dawn of Victory (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: Ninja Warriors (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: Seven (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: The Human Factor (1987) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: The Four Musketeers (1986) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: The Saint (1986) .... Hostess
• Adventure Video: The Three Musketeers (1986) .... Hostess
• Famous T&A (1982) .... Hostess

Cyber Temples

• Sybil Danning Nude Celebrity Movie Reviews
  Mr. Skin
  Bio, filmography, and nude stills from her films
• Sybil Danning — Gorgeous Austrian Sex-Symbol
• Sybil Danning
  Wikipedia
  Sybil Danning in wikireality

Miscellaneous

• Sybil Danning
  Internet Movie Database
  Always up-to-date filmography