Anita Pallenberg, the model, actress, fashion designer and former partner of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has died at the age of 73.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed the news following an Instagram post from her friend Stella Schnabel.
Born in 1944, Pallenberg spent the majority of her career modelling and acting and also worked as a fashion designer and regularly appeared at Andy Warhol’s Factory during the 60s.
She starred in a number of films including Jane Fonda’s cult classic Barbarella in 1968 and with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in 1970 drama Performance.
She first met the Stones in 1965 when she and a friend snuck backstage to see the band before a show in Munich. That led to a relationship with guitarist Brian Jones, but she left him for Richards.
During their 12 year relationship, Pallenberg and Richards had three children, Marlon, Angela and Tara – who died of sudden infant death syndrome at just 10 weeks in 1976.
The pair struggled with drug addiction and were both arrested in Toronto in 1977, when he was charged with heroin possession and she was charged with marijuana possession.
In a 2010 interview with Rolling Stone, Richards said of his relationship with Pallenberg: “It was tough. At the same time, there is an underlying love that goes beyond all of that other stuff.
“I can say, ‘I love you, I just won’t live with you.’ And we’re now proud grandparents, which we never thought we’d ever see.”
The cause of Pallenberg’s death has not yet been revealed.
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