Trivia

She appeared in only one film with her younger brother Maximilian Schell: The Odessa File (1974). They had no scenes together.

After the Nazis entered Austria in 1938, her family left Vienna and moved to Zurich, Switzerland.

Became one of the first movie idols to the postwar generation in the German-speaking countries with her distinctive "smile under tears".

Her brother Maximilian Schell made a movie about her in 2002 called Meine Schwester Maria (2002) (aka "My Sister Maria").

Pictured on an Austrian 68c commemorative postage stamp issued 24 April 2015, two days before the tenth anniversary of her death.

Her breakthrough performance was in Helmut Käutner's The Last Bridge (1954) (aka "Die letzte Brücke"), a touching performance as a tragic heroine, which won her the Best Actress Award at Cannes.

Both she and her younger brother Maximilian Schell worked with Hardy Krüger: Maria in As Long as You're Near Me (1953) and Maximilian in A Bridge Too Far (1977).

She was the daughter of Hermann Ferdinand Schell, a Swiss writer, and Margarete Schell Noé, an Austrian actress. Her three siblings, Carl Schell, Maximilian Schell, and Immy Schell, also joined the acting profession.

Considered 99 Women (1969) (aka "Island of Despair") to be her worst picture.

Mother of Oliver Hächler (known as Oliver Schell, with Horst Hächler) and actress Marie Theres Relin (with Veit Relin).

Is only 14 years older than Katharine Ross, who played her daughter in Voyage of the Damned (1976).