Berry Berenson
A model and photographer whose life was a vibrant tapestry of art, Hollywood, and personal tragedy, remembered beyond her famous marriage.
1948–2001 (age 53)·American actress·Birthday: April 14·Baby Boomers
Biography
Berry Berenson, born Berinthia Berenson in 1948, moved through the worlds of fashion and film with an innate grace inherited from her artistic family. She began her career as a model, her striking features gracing the pages of Vogue, before shifting her creative eye behind the camera as a photographer. Her life took a defining turn when she married actor Anthony Perkins in 1973, a union that produced two sons and anchored her in Hollywood's social landscape. Berenson cultivated a reputation as a warm and stylish presence, documenting her family and celebrity friends with a candid lens. Her story ended in profound tragedy on September 11, 2001, when she was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to strike the World Trade Center. Her legacy is one of creative spirit, familial devotion, and a life cut short by a defining national catastrophe.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Berry was born in 1948, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Berry Was Born
The biggest hits of 1948
#1 Movie
The Red Shoes
Best Picture
Hamlet
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
Berry's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1948Born
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1953Started school
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1961Became a teenager
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Could drive
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1966Could vote
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Turned 21
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1978Turned 30
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 40
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 50
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2001Died at 53
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
Key Achievements
- Had a successful modeling career, appearing in major fashion magazines like Vogue and Glamour in the late 1960s and 1970s.
- Worked as a professional photographer, with her portraits and candid shots published in magazines and in a 1979 book.
- Maintained a decades-long marriage to actor Anthony Perkins in an industry known for transient relationships.
Did You Know?
She was the granddaughter of the famed Parisian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
Her sister is the actress and model Marisa Berenson.
She was originally booked on a different flight for September 11, 2001, but changed her plans to return home early.
“I see the world through a lens, not a script.”
