Marlene Dietrich - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile

Biography

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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. 9.

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. Nicknamed "Lena" within the family, she contracted her two first names to form the then-unusual name, Marlene, when she was still a teenager. Marlene studied the violin before starting work as a chorus girl and actress for Max Reinhardt in theatre productions in Berlin and Vienna throughout the 1920's.

Marlene made her film debut in 1923. In 1929, she got the role of "Lola-Lola" in UFA's production, The Blue Angel (1930), which was one of the first European sound films. The film was directed by Josef von Sternberg.

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". She gradually broadened her repertoire in Destry Rides Again, The Spoilers, A Foreign Affair, Witness for the Prosecution, Touch of Evil and Judgment at Nuremberg.

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. Following a slowdown in her film career, she made a number of records first for Decca, Elektrola, EMI, and for Columbia. Her distinctive voice was later satirized, along with that of Lotte Lenya, in the song Lieder by cult British trio Fascinating Aïda. Madeline Kahn did the same in the Mel Brooks classic Blazing Saddles.

World War II

In 1937, while her film career stalled in Hollywood, she made a film in London for producer Alexander Korda. In later interviews, she claimed that while in London to film Knight Without Armour (1937) she was approached by representatives of the Nazi party to return to Germany, but turned them down flat. Her US film career was revived with the Western Destry Rides Again (1939) costarring James Stewart, and featuring a famous fistfight with the character played by actress Una Merkel. 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. She entertained troops on the front lines in a USO revue that included future TV pioneer Danny Thomas as her opening act. Dietrich was known to have strong political convictions and the mind to speak them. Like many Weimar era German entertainers, she was a staunch anti-Nazi who despised anti-Semitic policies of National Socialism.

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. She also played the musical saw to entertain troops. She sang for the Allied troops on the front lines in Algiers, France and into Germany with Generals James M. Gavin and George S. Patton. When asked why she had done this, in spite of the obvious danger of being within a few kilometers of German lines, she replied, "aus Anstand" – "it was the decent thing to do".

Dietrich was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the US Government for her war work. She was also made a chevalier (later commandeur) of the Legion d'Honneur by the French Government.

Personal life

Unlike her professional celebrity, which was carefully crafted and maintained, Dietrich's personal life was kept out of public view. She married once, to director's assistant Rudolf Sieber, a Roman Catholic who later became a director at Paramount Pictures in France.

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". The great love of the actress's life, however, was the French actor and military hero Jean Gabin. Their relationship ended in the mid-1940's. During the 1950's, she had relationships with Edward R. Murrow, Yul Brynner and Frank Sinatra. As for her husband, he had a tragically unstable longterm mistress, Tamara Matul, with whom he lived on a chicken farm in California. Dietrich and her husband remained close.

She was reportedly offered money to return to Germany, due to her immense popularity as well as Hitler's ardour, which she declined. She quipped that she would return only when one of her Jewish friends (possibly Max Reinhardt) could accompany her.

It has also been claimed that she was bisexual, having romantic affairs with actresses like Ona Munson and writer Mercedes de Acosta. Dietrich was also involved with President John F. Kennedy.

Stage and cabaret

From the 1950s to the mid-1970s Dietrich toured internationally as a successful cabaret performer. Her repertoire included songs from her films as well as popular songs of the day. Until the mid-1960s her musical director was famed composer Burt Bacharach.

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. Many Germans felt she had betrayed her homeland by her actions during WWII. During her performances at Berlin's Titania Palast theatre, protesters chanted, "Marlene Go Home!". On hearing this, Dietrich was quoted as saying, "I guess they have a love-hate feeling for me." On the other hand, Marlene was warmly welcomed by other Germans, including Berlin mayor Willy Brandt. The tour was an artistic triumph but a financial failure. She also undertook a tour of Israel around the same time, which was well-received; she sang some songs in German during her concerts, including a German version of Pete Seeger's anti-war anthem Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, thus breaking the unofficial taboo against the use of German in Israel.

In 1968, she received a Tony Award for her stage show. In 1973, her stage show was broadcast on television.

Final years

Her show business career largely ended on September 29, 1975, when she broke her leg during a stage performance in Australia. She appeared briefly in the film, Just a Gigolo, in 1979, and wrote and contributed to several books during the 1980s.

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. Maximilian Schell persuaded Dietrich to be interviewed for his 1984 documentary Marlene, but she did not appear on screen. She was in constant contact with her daughter, who came to Paris regularly to check on her. Her husband, Rudolf Sieber, had died of cancer on June 24, 1976.

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. She would keep contact with world leaders by telephone, running up a monthly bill of over 3,000 (USD). Her contacts included Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, though whether she had any influence on them is unknown.

Dietrich died peacefully of natural causes May 6, 1992, at the age of 90 in Paris, France. A service was conducted at La Madeleine in Paris before 3,500 mourners and a crowd of well-wishers outside. Her body, covered with an American flag, was then returned to Berlin where she was interred at the Städtischer Friedhof III, Berlin-Schöneberg, Stubenrauchstraße 43-45, in Friedenau Cemetery, not far from the house where she was born.

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 [1])} 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. Her German accent gave an extra touch to her performance but made her look "foreign" in the eyes of Americans.

Dietrich was a fashion icon to the top designers as well as a screen icon who later stars would follow. Her public image and some of her movies included strong sexual undertones, including bisexuality.

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 $50,000. http://politiken.dk/indland/article188915.ece - the original article (Danish) http://www.tech-tag.com/2006/10/24/11-year-old-girl-sued-for-50000-for-buying-her-name-as-domain/ - a English article quoting the Danish article

Filmography

Love Tragedy (1923)
The Little Napoleon (1923)
Man by the Wayside (1923)
Leap Into Life (1924)
Dance Mad (1925)
The Bogus Baron (1926)
Manon Lescaut (1926)
Madame Doesn't Want Children (1926)
A Modern DuBarry (1927)
Chin Up, Charley! (1927)
His Greatest Bluff (1927)
Cafe Electric (1927)
Princess Olala (1928)
Dangers of the Engagement Period (1929)
I Kiss Your Hand Madame (1929)
The Woman One Longs For (1929)
The Ship of Lost Men (1929)
The Blue Angel (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Dishonored (1931)
Shanghai Express (1932)
Blonde Venus (1932)
The Song of Songs (1933)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Fashion Side of Hollywood (1935) (short subject)
The Devil is a Woman (1935)
I Loved a Soldier (1936) (unfinished)
Desire (1936)
The Garden of Allah (1936)
Knight Without Armour (1937)
Angel (1937)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Seven Sinners (1940)
The Flame of New Orleans (1941)
Manpower (1941)
The Lady Is Willing (1942)
The Spoilers (1942)
Pittsburgh (1942)
Show Business at War (1943) (short subject)
Follow the Boys (1944)
Kismet (1944)
Martin Roumagnac (1946)
Golden Earrings (1947)
A Foreign Affair (1948)
Jigsaw (1949) (Cameo)
Stage Fright (1950)
No Highway in the Sky (1951)
Rancho Notorious (1952)
The Monte Carlo Story (1956)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) (Cameo)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Black Fox: The True Story of Adolf Hitler (1962) (documentary) (narrator)
Paris, When It Sizzles (1964) (Cameo)
Just a Gigolo (1979)
Marlene (1984) (documentary) (Dietrich insisted to director Maximilian Schell that her voice only be heard)

Radio

"The Child", with Godfrey Kenton, radio play produced by Richard Imison for BBC on 18 August 1965

References

External links

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