Half a century of excellence
In 1920s Berlin, Dietrich took to the stage and landed some small roles in silent films. She met her future husband, Rudolf Sieber, on the set of 'Tragedy of Love' in 1923.
Her performance as cabaret singer Lola-Lola in Josef von Sternberg's 'The Blue Angel' (1930) catapulted her into international acclaim and landed her a generous contract with Paramount Pictures. Almost over night, the German actress became a Hollywood star.
Marie Magdalene Dietrich, nicknamed Lena, was born on December 27, 1901 in Berlin, Germany. Around age 11—a few years after her father died—she combined her first two names to form the name we now know well: "Marlene."
Dietrich moved to the US and continued her work with Austrian-Hungarian director Josef von Sternberg, who is credited with having discovered her. He cast her in six other films in the 1930s, and worked hard to transform her image into a star of the silver screen.
'The Blue Angel' also immortalized Dietrich in sound, with her performance of the song 'Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It),' which would go on to become her anthem.
Despite her film flops, she continued on with celebrity largely due to her unique androgynous yet glamorous look. Her style reflected her experience of 1920s Berlin nightlife, and it relied heavily on men's clothing like trousers, hats, and suits. She earned praise from Hollywood, and disdain from conservative circles.
'Morocco' (1930) is largely remembered today for the scene in which Dietrich performs a song dressed in a man's tuxedo—which was controversial alone—and then proceeds to kiss another woman. It was very provocative for the time and kicked off Dietrich's contribution to the redefinition of gender constructs.
Dietrich would often use the phrase "sewing circle" to refer to the closeted lesbian and bisexual Hollywood ladies, which included stars like Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, and, of course, herself.
After being staged as a cool, unapproachable, mysterious beauty, Dietrich managed to find her way back into the hearts of US audiences by the end of the 1930s with warmer film roles in comedies such as 'Seven Sinners' (1940).
In 1942, the Office of Strategic Services asked Dietrich to record American songs in German to help with their propaganda activities to demoralize foreign troops, the National Women's History Museum reports. She agreed and produced numerous songs including 'Time on My Hands,' 'Mean to Me,' and 'Taking a Chance on Love.'
Dietrich was staunchly anti-fascist, and when the Nazi Party approached her to perform in propaganda films, she turned them down with a fierce "NEIN." During Hitler's dictatorship, she renounced her German citizenship and became a full-fledged American citizen.
Over her career, Dietrich had many lovers, ranging from full affairs to erotic trysts, and including actors, directors, and producers, both men and women. Notable names are said to have included Ernest Hemingway, Erich Maria Remarque, Jean Gabin, and Errol Flynn (and his wife), George Bernard Shaw, John F. Kennedy, Frank Sinatra, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., James Stewart, John Wayne, and Mercedes de Acosta. It should be noted that she remained married to her husband until his death in 1976.
A woman with keen foresight, Dietrich knew she wanted to be remembered—immortalized on film—for her best years, so she stepped away from the film industry and appeared on camera just two times in the 1960s, one of those being Stanley Kramer's 'Judgment at Nuremberg' (1961). Her strategy certainly worked.
According to biographer Eva Gesine Baur, who wrote 'A class of her own - the life of Marlene Dietrich,' her greatest love was French actor Jean Gabin, whom she co-starred with in the film 'The Room Upstairs' (1946).
Dietrich's daughter reportedly has a collection of her mother's personal writings that detail her romantic appetite, which sometimes involved up to three lovers per day! The star apparently stipulated that her diary, the subject of so much Hollywood gossip, could only be released to the public 25 years after her death. Obviously that hasn't happened yet, but one can hope!
Perhaps contrary to her desire for physical touch, Dietrich was reportedly afflicted by bacillophobia, an intense fear of germs.
Dietrich had held extremely high standards for herself under the spotlight, and once said, "Glamour is assurance. It is a kind of knowing that you are all right in every way, mentally and physically and in appearance, and that, whatever the occasion or the situation, you are equal to it." Once she felt her glamour leave, she left the spotlight. She spent the last years of her life in Paris, mostly in isolation.
Dietrich died of kidney failure on May 6, 1992, at her home in Paris. She was 90. After her funeral, she was buried next to her mother in Berlin. Dietrich was survived by her daughter Maria and her four grandchildren.
Dietrich and Sieber were married in Berlin on May 17, 1923. The next year she had her first and only child, daughter Maria Elisabeth Sieber, on December 13. Still, she continued to work on stage and in film both in Berlin and Vienna throughout the 1920s.
Her first love was the violin, and in 1922 her first job in Berlin was as a violinist in a pit orchestra playing soundtracks for silent films. She was fired after a month, however, due to a wrist injury that hindered her abilities. Soon after, she turned to her other love: drama.
With her alluring deep voice, unconventional looks, and the push from von Sternberg to create a femme fatale appearance by losing weight, dyeing her hair blonde, and adopting the thinly-pencilled eyebrows that became her trademark, Dietrich became a cool, mysterious, exotic star.
"I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men," Dietrich said in a 1960 interview with The Observer. "If I dressed for myself, I wouldn't bother at all. Clothes bore me. I'd wear jeans. I adore jeans. I get them in a public store—men's of course; I can't wear women's trousers."
Marlene Dietrich's rebellion against fascism, gendered fashion, and sexual norms left a lasting legacy for many stars who came after.
Sources: (National Women's History Museum) (DW) (AnOther Magazine) (The Guardian)
See also: Androgynous style icons past and present
One of those six von Sternberg films was 'Morocco' (1930), which would earn Dietrich her only Academy Award nomination in her entire career. It's important to note that while she's now regarded as an icon, Dietrich's films didn't perform well at the time. Still, almost by her own sheer will, she kept the aura of a star around her.
Post-war, Dietrich returned to film with notable roles in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Stage Fright' (1950), Fritz Lang's 'Rancho Notorious' (1952), Billy Wilder's 'Witness for the Prosecution' (1957), and Orson Welles's 'Touch of Evil'(1958). Her work with Wilder, however, was her last major film role.
Marlene Dietrich had an impressive career that spanned seven decades, starting in the 1910s and morphing over the years with fashion, films, and with her own sheer will, until she died as she'd planned: an icon. The German-born Hollywood star was one of the highest-paid actresses of the era, famed for her unique androgynous glam, gossiped about for her many lovers, and all these years later she's still celebrated for her anti-fascist and positive LGBTQ contributions to history.
Click through to see her journey from young mother and silent film star to Hollywood's most promiscuous femme fatale, and all the way back to her home of Berlin to rest eternally as an icon of the silver screen.
Despite all of her success, Dietrich reportedly had financial troubles throughout her life, which were especially prominent during the last two decades of her life. She borrowed money, charged huge amounts for interviews, and exhausted herself doing advertisements and tours.
Instead of appearing on film, Dietrich spent a large part of the 1960s and the 1970s touring the world performing live shows.
Throughout World War II she was known for her humanitarian efforts. She housed and financially supported exiles, and she visited troops in Europe, often under difficult and dangerous conditions. For improving morale on the front lines, she received several honors from the US, France, and Belgium. Meanwhile, her films were banned in Germany.
Marlene Dietrich: The making of a silver screen icon
The femme fatale passed away on May 6, 1992
CELEBRITY Retrospective
Marlene Dietrich had an impressive career that spanned seven decades, starting in the 1910s and morphing over the years with fashion, films, and with her own sheer will, until she died as she'd planned: an icon. The German-born Hollywood star was one of the highest-paid actresses of the era, famed for her unique androgynous glam, gossiped about for her many lovers, and all these years later she's still celebrated for her anti-fascist and positive LGBTQ contributions to history.
Click through to see her journey from young mother and silent film star to Hollywood's most promiscuous femme fatale, and all the way back to her home of Berlin to rest eternally as an icon of the silver screen.