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Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992) Maria Magdalene Dietrich was born on December 27, 1901 in Schoeneberg, Berlin. As a young girl she created the name "Marlene" and kept it together with her surname until her death on May 6, 1992 in Paris. She started her career as an actress in 1922 in Berlin with the stage play: "Der grosse Bariton". By that time she also started working 'part-time' for the Ufa Studios in Babelsberg and appeared in a few films. In Babelsberg she meets her future husband Rudolf Sieber, who is working as an assistant for the Ufa. They get married on May 17th, 1923 and only one year later on December 13th, 1924 their daughter Maria is born. By that time Marlene is not really interested in her career as an actress anymore. She loves to be a mother and housewife and doesn't want to go back to the stage. But because of money issues she returns to the Theatre and film only a few months after Maria is born. In 1929 she meets Josef von Sternberg who gives her the part of Lola-Lola in the film "Der Blaue Engel" which will be the start of an amazing career. "Der Blaue Engel" is a great success and Paramount offers Marlene Dietrich a contract in the states. In the same year she moves to L.A. and gives her US debut in the movie "Marocco". During the 30's she plays in a lot of films and travels between Europe and the states. In 1936 Sternberg and Marlene go separate ways and a she starts to build her own career without the helping hand (camera) of her mentor. With the beginning of the World War II Marlene becomes a citizen of the United States, one of the reasons might have been the rumour about her being a German spy. In March 1944 she joins the USO and starts travelling with US troops for their entertainment. In 1950 she becomes a grandmother when her daughter Maria gives birth to her first son. In 1954 Marlene starts her unprecedentel career as a stage entertainer and celebrates great successes for the next two decades all over the world. She appears in her last film "Just A Gigolo" in 1978 and her voice ONLY will return to the screen for once in Maximilian Schell's documentary 'Marlene'. |