BERLIN (AP) — Alice and Ellen Kessler, twin dancers and singers who launched their career in the 1950s and performed with Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Harry Belafonte among others, have died, police in Germany said Tuesday. They were 89.
The death of the twins in Grünwald, a prosperous suburb of Munich where they shared a house, was reported by German newspaper Bild and news agency dpa on Monday, without named sources. Munich police on Tuesday confirmed the deaths, saying in an emailed statement that it was a “joint suicide.”
The Kessler twins learned to dance at a young age and joined the Leipzig Opera children's ballet. In 1952, when they were 16, their family fled to West Germany, where they danced in a revue theater in Düsseldorf. In 1955, the sisters were discovered by the director of the Lido cabaret theater in Paris, where their international career took off.
In the 1960s, the Kessler twins toured worldwide, moved to Rome and performed with Astaire, Sinatra and Belafonte. They turned down an offer to appear with Elvis Presley in “Viva Las Vegas” in 1964 for fear of becoming defined by musical films in America, dpa reported.
Even at 80, the sisters appeared on stage in a musical. Alice said shortly before their 80th birthday that they probably wouldn't have managed to perform for so long alone.
Being a twosome “only has advantages,” she said. “Together you're stronger.”
Asked about the secret of their success, she remarked: “Discipline, every day. Gratitude, time and again. Humility, not cockiness. And togetherness. Until death.”
FILE - The twins Alice Kessler, top, and Ellen Kessler, bottom, are photographed together on stage in Stuttgart, Germany, Nov. 21, 2006. (Bernd Weissbrod/dpa via AP, File)
FILE - Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler present excerpts from their show program "Eins und eins ist eins" (one and one is one) at a press conference in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 17, 1997. (Karl Mittenzwei/dpa via AP, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — A potential replay challenge by the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday was denied because first-year manager Kurt Suzuki waited too long to make the appeal.
The play occurred with the Chicago Cubs batting in the third inning of the Angels' 6-2 loss in the series finale at a chilly Wrigley Field. Nico Hoerner doubled into the gap in left-center, and Miguel Amaya used a headfirst slide to score the first run of the game.
Shortstop Zach Neto's throw beat Amaya to the plate. It was unclear if Amaya's left hand touched home, and if it got in there ahead of catcher Travis d'Arnaud's tag. Umpire David Rackley ruled Amaya was safe.
Suzuki held up his hand in the direction of the field before deciding to challenge. But the umpires did not initiate a replay review because they said Suzuki took too long to make his decision.
According to Major League Baseball's replay regulations, once a manager notifies an umpire that a club is considering a challenge, the umpire “will hold play until the earlier of the expiration of the 15-Second Determination Timer ... or an indication from the Manager that the Club is not going to challenge the play.”
“When a close play happens like that, the manager is required to immediately hold, to signal to start the clock, which is 15 seconds,” crew chief Chris Guccione told a pool reporter. “So once I see a manager hold by raising his hand, I'll radio up to the press box, to the tech up there, who then starts the clock. So then from that point they've got 15 seconds to either wave it off, challenge, whatever they need to do.”
The 15 seconds is displayed on the pitch clock, and umpires wear a communication device that buzzes when the clock strikes zero.
“There's zeros and the buzz, and then Kurt came up just a little late,” Guccione said.
Suzuki said bench coach John Gibbons, who is the conduit between the manager and Angels staffers looking at the replay, said the timing of the challenge decision was close.
“He said it was a judgment thing,” Suzuki said. “He said it was like zero-bam and then I challenged, so it was like right after. If we’re late, we’re late. Can’t really argue that. Even if it’s a half-second, a second, you can’t argue that. If you’re late, you’re late.”
The Cubs went on to score four more runs in the third, including two with two outs in the inning.
The Angels challenged a successful steal by Hoerner in the sixth, but the call was upheld.
The time limit for deciding whether to request a replay challenge was lowered from 20 to 15 seconds when the pitch clock was instituted as part of a package of rules changes ahead of the 2023 season.
The 42-year-old Suzuki took over as the team's manager in October. He spent the previous three seasons as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian.
Suzuki was a major league catcher for five teams over 16 seasons, winning a World Series with Washington in 2019. He had no major league coaching experience when he was hired as manager.
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Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, attempts to challenge a play with an umpire during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Los Angeles Angels manager Kurt Suzuki, left, attempts to challenge a play with an umpire during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
