- Esther Anderson went out with Marlon Brando and was with him when he starred in Last Tango in Paris (1972). She became great friends with Schneider, who featured in the controversial sex scene with Brando at the tender age of 19. "I was with Maria when she saw the film for the first time . . . she was absolutely shocked. She had no idea what they were going to do with her. She ran from the cinema screaming and I had to run after her into the street and comfort her. That film ruined her life".
- Abandoned a film set and became a voluntary patient at mental hospital in Rome (1975) in order to be her with her girlfriend photographer Joan Townsend. This was at a time before recognition of visiting rights in same sex relationships by hospitals and institutions.
- According to the documentary Le dernier tango à Paris (2004), she hasn't talked to Bernardo Bertolucci since the shooting of 1900 (1976). When they met at a film festival years later, she said "I don't know that man".
- She did finally finish "The Babysitter" and moved to Los Angeles, going on meetings and auditions but refusing to lie down on the casting couch. "She could have had a much bigger career," observed director Penelope Spheeris, a close friend at the time. "But I have a lot of respect for her. Think about it: To be such a sex symbol, to be so profoundly beautiful and have so much charisma and then not be available to men? Hollywood just doesn't stand for that. I don't care what people say, this town is run by men. Always".
- She was originally cast to play the part of "Conchita" in Luis Buñuel's last film That Obscure Object of Desire (1977). She did not get along with the Spanish director and rejected his stereotypical ideas of women for the role he had in mind. After a few days of shooting she was replaced by actresses (Ángela Molina and Carole Bouquet).
- Raised by her mother, French model Marie Christine Schneider, near the French border with Germany.
- Festival Guest of Honor at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival, France. (2001)
- Daughter of Daniel Gélin.
- Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea at the foot of the 'Rock of the Virgin' in Biarritz, France.
- She was signed for Gore Vidal's Caligula but was fired after 2 days by Tinto Brass as being too amaturish.
- Aunt of Hugo Gélin and Sarah Gélin.
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