His niece and even his own daughter accuse Maximilian Schell (†83) of abuse. Now a friend of the actor is speaking out, claiming that his famous sister Maria Schell (†79) knew about the alleged abuse.

His niece Marie Theres Relin just accused her famous uncle Maximilian Schell of having abused her as a teenager in her new book “Scenes from a Marriage”. Shortly afterwards, her cousin, Maximilian Schell’s daughter Nastassja, also spoke up. She also suffered from abuse by her father.

Marie Theres was never able to confide in her mother, the late actress Maria Schell, she writes in her book: “She would have defended herself vehemently if someone with pointed fingers spread a blanket of dirt over the family. She would have insisted on proof or even suspected me of being a Lolita.”

But now singer Penny McLean, an old friend of Maximilian Schell, has spoken out to “Bild”. She is sure that Maria knew about the abuse in her own family.

“Maria was completely different from the sweet soul you knew from her films”

“When Marie Theres was 14, Maria said to her: ‘Nothing better can happen to you.’ Maria knew it and even took the child to her Maximilian,” reports Penny McLean. And further: “Maria was completely different from the sweet soul that we knew from her films. I know her very well.” According to the “Lady Bump” interpreter, Maria and Marie Theres had a difficult mother-daughter relationship throughout their lives: “Do you ever have a mother like that? That wasn’t easy for Marie Theres.” However, Penny herself didn’t know anything about the alleged abuse, she emphasizes: “If I had noticed, I would have killed him.”