Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene Dietrich
Birthday	Friday, December 27, 1901
Birthplace	Schöneberg, German Empire
Died	Wednesday, May 06, 1992
Occupation	Actress/Singer

Dietrich, (Maria Magdalene) Marlene

(1901–92) film actress, singer; born in Berlin, Germany. Abandoning an early ambition to be a violinist, she became a chorus girl, then studied acting; by 1923 she 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 U.S. citizen in 1939 and during World War II 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 (in 1924, to Rudolf Sieber), she spent her last years in Paris.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Dietrich, Marlene

(pseudonym of Maria Magdalene von Losch). Born Dec. 27, 1904, in Berlin. American actress; German by birth.

Dietrich studied at the Musical Academy and at M. Reinhardt’s School of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. She made her debut in theater and in motion pictures in 1922. Her first major role was in the film The Blue Angel (1930, based on a novel by H. Mann). In 1930 she went to Hollywood and appeared in the role of a vamp in the exotic films of the director J. von Sternberg: Morocco (1930), Shanghai Express (1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil Is a Woman (1935); she became one of the most popular stars of American motion pictures in the 1930’s. During World War II (1939-45), Dietrich took an active part in antifascist propaganda and appeared as a singer before American troops. In films of the postwar period she returned to her former roles. In the 1950’s, with her transition to roles of older heroines, she proved herself a gifted actress, creating brilliant, complex characters in the films Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Judgment at Nuremberg (1962), and others. She is also famous as a stage singer.

REFERENCES

Griffith, R. Marlene Dietrich. New York, 1959.
Kobal, J. Marlene Dietrich. London-New York, 1968.

V. A. UTILOV

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References in periodicals archive

The post Ute Lember meets Marlene Dietrich appeared first on Cyprus Mail .

Ute Lember meets Marlene Dietrich

Google honours Marlene Dietrich on her 116th birthday

Who was Marlene Dietrich? Hollywood femme fatale, seductive singer and wartime heroine; The legendary star of the silver screen is honoured with a Google Doodle on what would have been her 116th birthday

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Marlene Dietrich, the German born actress and singer, shot to international stardom in 1930 in the film The Blue Angel.

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But Mrs Von Sternberg could not resist telling Hollywood reporters what she thought of Marlene Dietrich. "Any woman who talks in whispers and looks out of the corners of her eyes can get a reputation for being mysterious.

$200,000, the price of Dietrichs love

A glamorous affair, guests included Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Vivien Leigh, Mia Farrow, Frank Sinatra, the Rockefellers, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the Maharajah and Maharani of Jaipur.

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This reprint of a 1992 unauthorized biography of film legend Marlene Dietrich explores the life and work of this icon of the golden age of Hollywood, and provides a glimpse into the fascinating personal and political life of one of the great performers of the twentieth century.

Marlene Dietrich; life and legend. (reprint, 1992)

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Quiz of the Day

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