Actor Helmut Berger, known for starring in films by Italian director Luchino Visconti, died Thursday in his home country of Austria at the age of 78, his agent said.

Axar.az reports that he died "peacefully but suddenly" just before his 79th birthday, agent Helmut Werner said.

Berger was among Visconti's favourite actors. The director noticed him for his dashing looks and cast him to play troubled aristocrats.

He became known for his roles in The Damned (1969), about the rise of Nazism, and Ludwig (1973), in which he starred as Ludwig of Bavaria, tormented by his repressed homosexuality, alongside Romy Schneider who played Sissi.