German born, Marlene Dietrich was Paramount Pictures answer to Greta Garbo. They believed she was an equal to the great Garbo due to her exotic good looks and European accent. In her first American film she had to speak her lines phonetically due to the fact that she knew so little English.
Dietrich was a bohemian at heart; a free thinker and an unabashed bisexual who didn't care if the world or the press commented on it...although she was married to the same man until his death. Their union produced a daughter, Maria Riva who has written extensively about her mother.
Marlene was brought to the U.S. in 1930 after her work in The Blue Angel as Lola Lola (a German film) caught the attention of Hollywood. Within a limited amount of time she would become one of the highest paid stars in the world.
Her style was supremely androgynous...she looked as beautiful in an Adrian designed gown for a film as she did in a man's tuxedo...and she loved playing with fashion and gender.
She considered the "greatest role" the one she played off screen. After being invited back to Germany by Hitler to "make promotional films", Dietrich joined the U.S. side of WWII and entertained troops around the globe with the U.S.O. and she also traveled throughout America stumping for war bonds. She became a U.S. citizen in 1939. Of her war work she said, "It is the only really important thing I have ever done."
From the 1950's to the early 1970's Marlene made few films but instead chose to star in a one woman traveling cabaret show. She worked well into her early seventies, but ended up retiring after breaking her foot during a performance.
For the last eleven years of her life, Marlene was a complete and utter recluse. She remained basically bedridden in her Paris apartment.
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