Film actress and singer, born in Berlin, Germany. Abandoning an early ambition to be a violinist, she became a chorus girl, then studied acting, and by 1923 had launched her career in German films. She gained international attention in The Blue Angel (1930) and moved to Hollywood with its director, Josef von Sternberg, who starred her in six films that enforced her persona of enigmatic sexuality. Eventually she moved on to a variety of admired roles in dramas and comedies. Resisting requests by the Nazis to return to Germany, she became a US citizen in 1939 and during World War 2 made extensive tours, often into combat zones, to entertain Allied troops. After the war, she began a new career as a singer, gaining a new following with her husky, sophisticated renditions. Linked romantically with many men, but married only once (to Rudolf Sieber in 1924), she spent her last years in Paris.
| Marlene Dietrich | |
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Marlene Dietrich at Expo 67 in Montréal, 1967. |
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| Birth name | Maria Magdalene Dietrich |
| Born |
December 27, 1901 Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany |
| Died |
May 6, 1992 Paris, France |
Marlene Dietrich [IPA: marlɛnɛ ditriç] (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was an Academy Award-nominated German-American actress, entertainer and singer. The American Film Institute named Dietrich among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time, ranking at No.
Early life
She was born Maria Magdalene Dietrich in Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany to Louis Erich Otto Dietrich and Wilhelmina Elisabeth Josephine Felsing on December 27, 1901.
Marlene made her film debut in 1923.
Hollywood
She then moved to Hollywood to make Morocco, for which she received her only Oscar nomination. Her most lasting contribution to film history was as the star in several films directed by von Sternberg in the pre-Code early 1930s, such as The Scarlet Empress and Shanghai Express, in which she played "femmes fatales".
The singer
Dietrich sang in several of her films (most famously in von Sternberg's The Blue Angel, in which she sings "Falling In Love Again"("Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss auf Liebe eingestellt"), having made records in Germany in the 1920s.
World War II
In 1937, while her film career stalled in Hollywood, she made a film in London for producer Alexander Korda. Dietrich became an American citizen in 1939.
In 1941 the U.S. entered the Second World War and Dietrich became one of the first celebrities to raise war bonds.
Her singing helped on the homefront of the U.S.A too, as she recorded a number of anti-Nazi records in German for the OSS, including Lili Marleen, a curious example of a song transcending the hatreds of war.
Dietrich was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the US Government for her war work.
Personal life
Unlike her professional celebrity, which was carefully crafted and maintained, Dietrich's personal life was kept out of public view.
Her only child, Maria Elizabeth Sieber (married name Maria Riva), was born on December 13, 1924. When Maria Riva gave birth to a son in 1948, Dietrich was dubbed "the world's most glamorous grandmother".
She was reportedly offered a king's ransom to return to Germany, due to her immense popularity as well as Hitler's ardour, which she declined.
It has also been indicated that she was bisexual, having romantic affairs with actresses like Ona Munson and writer Mercedes de Acosta.
Stage and cabaret
From the 1950s to the mid-1970s Dietrich toured internationally as a successful cabaret performer.
His arrangements helped to disguise Dietrich's limited vocal range and allowed her to perform her songs to maximum dramatic effect. Spectacular costumes (by Jean Louis), body-sculpting undergarments, careful stage lighting and temporary mini-facelifts helped to preserve Dietrich's glamorous image well into old age.
Her return to Germany in 1960 for a concert tour elicited a mixed response.
In 1968, she received a Tony Award for her stage show.
Final years
Her show business career largely ended on September 29, 1975, when she broke her leg during a stage performance in Australia.
She spent her last decade mostly bed-ridden, in her apartment on the avenue Montaigne in Paris, during which time she was not seen in public but was a prolific letter-writer and phone-caller.
In an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel in November 2005, her daughter and grandson claim that Marlene Dietrich was politically "active" during these years.
Dietrich died peacefully of natural causes May 6, 1992, at the age of 90 in Paris, France.
In 1994 her memorabilia were sold to the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek (after US institutions showed no interest) where it became the core of the exhibition(see ) at the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany, which is not far away from the square named Marlene-Dietrich-Platz in her honour on November 8, 1997.
Her place in Hollywood
Dietrich never integrated into the Hollywood entertainment industry, being always an outsider for mainstream America.
Dietrich was a fashion icon to the top designers as well as a screen icon who later stars would follow.
marlene.eu
The heirs of Marlene Dietrich are currently suing the uncle of a 11-year old Danish girl, because he has bought the site marlene.eu for his daughter. He is being sued for the marlene.eu site and $50000
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