Ingrid Steeger & Miou-Miou have something in common ...

I think she was a star on the continent but always seemed something of a cult figure here in U K. If I had to try and compare in terms of skill set, maybe Barbara Windsor as both were free-spirited stars of comic theatre, and musical theatre, though both equally unique performers. It has to be said that continental sex comedies were far racier than the British ones that Windsor made; British directors working in that field often say so themselves as the censorship here has always been far stricter. As a counterculture mini-skirt icon, Ingrid Steeger was at the forefront of a cultural revolution. She received multiple dvd box-set releases, including the 'Ingrid Steeger Gold Collection' which collected up some of her early comedy works, from a time back when she was often seen sparring alongside fellow comedienne and 'Klimbim' star Elisabeth Volkmann.

Steeger and her friend Iris Berben both played small roles in the "krimi" crime subgenre early in their careers. This was back when wholesome "schlager girl" Uschi Glas was a regular headliner; she'd (briefly) push the boundaries herself with director Umberto Lenzi, for the seminal "giallo" thriller 'Seven Blood-Stained Orchids' (1972), but was generally considered a family entertainer. But whereas Glas went in to family comedies in cinema, Steeger went wild for a few years, then became a major comedy star in the mid-1970s and had a kind of second career. But she was always funny, like Windsor, just an eccentric, one-of-a-kind comedienne full of surprises.