since Nov. 26, 2004.Maria Magdalene Dietrich was born December 27, 1901. She was the second child of Lt. Louis Erich Otto Dietrich and Wilhelmina Elisabeth Josephine Felsing. Her sister, Elisabeth, was born in 1900 and eventually became a school teacher in Berlin. After her father’s death, Maria’s mother married Colonel Eduard von Losch; however, he was away most of the time, and died in 1918. Her mother died in 1945.
Maria attended the Auguste Victoria School for Girls in Berlin from 1906 to 1918. She learned to play the piano and the violin, and also studied with some good teacher, including a stint at the Weimar Konservatorium in 1919. Around this time, she changed her name and became Marlene Dietrich.
She was in many German stage and film productions, which were highly evident to her rigorous work ethic. Besides acting, she also sang and cut her first record in 1926. During this time, she met Rudolf Seiber and married him on May 17, 1924. In December of that year, she gave birth to a daughter, Maria. Although they maintained a close relationship, they each began new relationships and the marriage was never dissolved. In 1927, she got her first starring role in the film "Ship of Lost Men." She was eventually discovered by Josef von Sternberg and starred in "The Blue Angel." Afterward, she moved to the United States to fulfill a six-movie contract with Paramount.
Dietrich’s fame was unremarkable between 1936 and 1950. Besides starring in many movies, including "Destry Rides Again," with notable actor Jimmy Stewart, and "A Foreign Affair," she was heavily involved with the USO. During the Africa and Italy campaign, she even stayed with the troops on the front. She not only entertained, but also helped coordinate hospital and mess details. In the French and German campaign, she rode with Patton on the front. Her involvement in radio broadcasts aimed at Germany soon got under the skin of the Nazis. She was awarded medals for her work by the U.S., French, and Israeli.
Her mother died of heart failure in 1945. In 1947, Dietrich’s daughter, Maria, married William Riva (her second husband); and on June 28, 1948, she became a grandmother.
Dietrich, however, couldn’t capitalize on her fame in the film industry. After the completion of Alfred Hitchcock’s "Stage Fright," one of her greatest movies, she turned her attention to perfecting her stage act. She opened in Las Vegas and eventually performed in England.
In 1957 and 1961, she starred in a couple of movies, but most of her time was dedicated to the stage, touring Germany, Russia, Israel, and also performed on Broadway and at the World Exposition in Montreal.
Around 1975, Dietrich began sinking into alcoholism. The many deaths of her best friends, including acclaimed actor John Wayne, only escalated it. She died of kidney and liver failure in Paris on May 6, 1992.
Paper copyright © 1998, Talia M. Wilson
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since Nov. 26, 2004.