Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Marlene Dietrich is a Actor Allemande born on 27 december 1901 at Schöneberg (German)

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich
If you like this person, let us know!
Birth name Marie Magdalene Dietrich
Nationality German
Birth 27 december 1901 at Schöneberg (German)
Death 6 may 1992 (at 90 years) at Paris (France)
Awards Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur‎, Honarary citizen of Berlin

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich (/mɑrˈleɪnəˈdiːtrɪk/, [maɐˈleːnə ˈdiːtʁɪç]; 27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German-American actress and singer.

Dietrich maintained popularity throughout her unusually long show business career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In 1920s Berlin, she acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), directed by Josef von Sternberg, brought her international fame resulting in a contract with Paramount Pictures. Dietrich had starring roles in Hollywood films such as Shanghai Express (1932) and Desire (1936). Dietrich successfully traded on her glamorous persona and "exotic" (to Americans) looks, cementing her super-stardom and becoming one of the highest-paid actresses of the era. Dietrich became a U.S. citizen in 1939, and throughout the Second World War she was a high-profile frontline entertainer. Although she still made occasional films after the end of the Second World War, Dietrich spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema.

Biography

Unlike her professional celebrity, which was carefully crafted and maintained, Dietrich's personal life was kept out of public view. Dietrich, who was bisexual, quietly enjoyed the thriving gay scene of the time and drag balls of 1920s Berlin. She also defied conventional gender roles through her boxing at Turkish trainer and prizefighter Sabri Mahir’s boxing studio in Berlin, which opened to women in the late 1920s. As Austrian writer Hedwig (Vicki) Baum recalls in her memoir, "I don't know how the feminine element sneaked into those masculine realms [the boxing studio], but in any case, only three or four of us were tough enough to go through with it (Marlene Dietrich was one)."

She was married only once, to assistant director Rudolf Sieber, who later became an assistant director at Paramount Pictures in France, responsible for foreign language dubbing. Dietrich's only child, Maria Elisabeth Sieber, was born in Berlin on 13 December 1924. She would later become an actress, primarily working in television, known as Maria Riva. When Maria gave birth to a son (John, a famous production designer) in 1948, Dietrich was dubbed "the world's most glamorous grandmother". After Dietrich's death, Riva published a frank biography of her mother, titled Marlene Dietrich (1992).

Throughout her career Dietrich had an unending string of affairs, some short-lived, some lasting decades; they often overlapped and were almost all known to her husband, to whom she was in the habit of passing the love letters of her men, sometimes with biting comments. When Dietrich filmed Morocco (1930) she found time to have an affair with Gary Cooper, despite the constant presence on the set of the temperamental Mexican actress Lupe Vélez, with whom Cooper was having a romance. Vélez once said: "If I had the opportunity to do so, I would tear out Marlene Dietrich's eyes.". During the filming of Destry Rides Again, Dietrich started a love affair with co-star James Stewart, which ended after filming. In 1938, Dietrich met and began a relationship with the writer Erich Maria Remarque, and in 1941, the French actor and military hero Jean Gabin. Their relationship ended in the mid-1940s. She also had an affair with the Cuban-American writer Mercedes de Acosta, who was Greta Garbo's periodic lover. Her last great passion, when Dietrich was in her 50s, appears to have been for the actor Yul Brynner, with whom she had an affair that lasted more than a decade; still, her love life continued well into her 70s. She counted George Bernard Shaw, John F. Kennedy and John Wayne among her conquests. Dietrich maintained her husband and his mistress first in Europe and later on a ranch in San Fernando Valley, California.

Dietrich's family brought her up to follow the Lutheran religion, but she lost her faith due to battlefront experiences during her time with the US Army as an entertainer, after hearing preachers from both sides invoking God as their support. "I lost my faith during the war and can't believe they are all up there, flying around or sitting at tables, all those I've lost." She once said: "If God exists, He needs to review his plan."

However, according to her daughter, Maria Riva, Dietrich always travelled with a satchel containing many religious medallions (e.g., St. Christopher, etc.), showing her desire to keep her faith. Also, during her reclusive twilight years in Paris, Dietrich converted to and strongly embraced Roman Catholicism. On 14 May 1992, her funeral ceremony was performed at her favorite Parisian church, La Madeleine.

Best films

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
(Actress)
Shanghai Express (1932)
(Actress)
Morocco (1930)
(Actress)
Marlene (1984)
(Actress)
A Foreign Affair (1948)
(Actress)

Usually with

Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier
(9 films)
Travis Banton
Travis Banton
(9 films)
Orson Welles
Orson Welles
(6 films)
John Wayne
John Wayne
(6 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Marlene Dietrich (61 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, 1h26
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the visual arts, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Marlene Dietrich, Jack Cardiff, Martin Scorsese, Orson Welles, Leslie Caron, Kirk Douglas
Roles Countess Alexandra Vladinoff (archive footage)
Rating76% 3.83343.83343.83343.83343.8334
En 2001, Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) est devenu le premier directeur de la photographie de l'histoire des Oscars à recevoir un Oscar d'honneur. Mais la première fois qu'il a serré la célèbre statuette dans sa main, c'était un demi-siècle plus tôt, lorsque son travail de caméra en Technicolor avait été récompensé pour le Narcisse noir de Powell et Pressburger. Au-delà de The African Queen de John Huston et de War and Peace de King Vidor, les films du duo créatif britannico-hongrois (The Red Shoes et A Matter of Life and Death également) garantissent l'immortalité au célèbre caméraman dont la carrière s'étend sur soixante-dix ans.
Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood, 1h20
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about historical events
Actors Sigourney Weaver, Marlene Dietrich, Hedy Lamarr, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Billy Wilder
Roles Self (archive footage)
Rating77% 3.8521353.8521353.8521353.8521353.852135
Ce documentaire, mêlant document d'archives, extraits de films et interviews, retrace le parcours de personnalités du cinéma allemand qui à l'arrivée d'Adolf Hitler au pouvoir en 1933, choisissent, plus ou moins forcés, de s'exiler à Hollywood. On découvre comment des hommes et des femmes du cinéma germanophone (Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, Peter Lorre, Marlène Dietrich, Billy Wilder entre autres) ont dû s'adapter au système hollywoodien et se faire une place dans le cinéma américain. Ils ont grandement contribué à la création du film noir et ont apporté du sang neuf au genre de la comédie.
Get Shorty
Get Shorty (1995)
, 1h45
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Mob film, Action, Crime
Themes Films about films, Mafia films, Gangster films
Actors John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Dwayne Johnson
Rating68% 3.447533.447533.447533.447533.44753
Chili Palmer, a loan shark based in Miami, clashes with mobster, Ray "Bones" Barboni over a leather jacket borrowed from Palmer at a restaurant without permission by Mr. Barboni. They have two confrontations, the first of which leaves Barboni with a broken nose. Barboni then wants his boss Jimmy Capp to go after Palmer, but he refuses, as Palmer has done nothing wrong. Barboni took the jacket without permission, and Chili's car keys were in the jacket. Jimmy also tells Bones that Chili works for another mafioso named Momo and Capp has no power over him. But soon after Palmer's boss, Momo, dies of a heart attack, Chili finds himself working for Barboni, whose first order is for Palmer to collect a loan shark debt owed by dry cleaner Leo Devoe. Devoe was believed to have been killed in a commercial airliner crash, but in truth had actually gotten off the plane, and failed to re-board because he was getting drunk in the airport bar. After the plane crash, Devoe's wife identified his personal effects, and the airline quickly offers her an insurance check for $300,000. Faye carelessly gives Leo the insurance money, and he heads out of Miami. When Chili visits Leo's "widow" Faye, she reveals to Palmer that Leo is still alive, has left Miami, and is partying and winning money in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That's Entertainment! III, 1h53
Genres Documentary, Musical
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about cities, Musical films, Documentary films about films
Actors Gene Kelly, June Allyson, Cyd Charisse, Lena Horne, Howard Keel, Esther Williams
Roles (archive footage)
Rating74% 3.738783.738783.738783.738783.73878
Troisième volet de "Il était une fois Hollywood", "That's Entertainment III" nous propose un nouveau panorama de l'age d'or de la MGM mais aussi des chutes rarissimes, des séquences coupées lors de la sortie des films et des essais d'autres stars que celles qui furent finalement choisies.
The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl, 3h8
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Leni Riefenstahl, Marlene Dietrich, Luis Trenker
Roles Herself
Rating79% 3.9924453.9924453.9924453.9924453.992445
La vie et l'œuvre de Leni Riefenstahl, qui au contraire de ses homologues qui, tel Fritz Lang, quittèrent l'Allemagne nazie, refusa de partir et devint la cinéaste attitrée du national-socialisme.
Just a Gigolo, 1h58
Directed by David Hemmings
Genres Drama
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, LGBT-related films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors David Bowie, Sydne Rome, Kim Novak, Maria Schell, Curd Jürgens, David Hemmings
Roles Baroness von Semering
Rating54% 2.700322.700322.700322.700322.70032
A Prussian officer (David Bowie) returns home to Berlin following the end of the Great War. Unable to find employment elsewhere, he works as a gigolo in a brothel run by the Baroness (Marlene Dietrich). He is eventually killed in street fighting between Nazis and Communists. Both sides claim his body but the Nazis succeed in capturing it and bury him with honours, "a hero to a cause he did not support".
Triumph Over Violence, 2h18
Directed by Mikhaïl Romm
Origin Russie
Genres War, Documentary, Historical
Themes Documentary films about war, Documentary films about historical events, Political films, Documentary films about World War II
Actors Marlene Dietrich, Mikhaïl Romm, Jūkichi Uno
Roles Self (archive footage)
Rating80% 4.035154.035154.035154.035154.03515
This documentary film is about the German society, Nazi Germany government and Holocaust during World War II.
Paris When It Sizzles, 1h50
Directed by Richard Quiney
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about films, Films about writers, Mise en scène d'un scénariste
Actors William Holden, Audrey Hepburn, Grégoire Aslan, Raymond Bussières, Tony Curtis, Mel Ferrer
Roles Marlene Dietrich (uncredited)
Rating62% 3.149773.149773.149773.149773.14977
The story concerns a veteran playboy screenwriter named Richard Benson (William Holden) who has been paid to write a screenplay for his boss, Mr. Alexander Myerheim (Noël Coward). Overly set in his playboy and carousing ways, he procrastinates the writing of the screenplay until just two days before it is due. Gabrielle Simpson (Audrey Hepburn), a temp secretary hired by Benson to type the script, comes to Richard's hotel room where they are to work on the script, only then finding out about their tight deadline and that not one page or line of script had yet been written. The desperate and self-loathing writer, Richard, begins to be awakened and inspired by the beautiful Gabrielle, and starts to come up with various scenarios for his screenplay, called The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower, which is based on their unfolding romance. The screenplay, with small but inspired and comedic roles for Noël Coward, Tony Curtis, and other famous stars of the day, makes fun of the movie business, actors, studio heads and itself, and is rife with allusions to the iconic earlier roles of the two main stars.
Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler, 1h26
Directed by Louis Clyde Stoumen
Origin USA
Genres War, Documentary, Historical
Themes Documentary films about historical events
Actors Marlene Dietrich
Roles Narrator (voice)
Rating68% 3.4210353.4210353.4210353.4210353.421035
Le film retrace la montée du nazisme en Allemagne et la carrière d'Adolf Hitler sous la forme d'une allégorie. Clyde Stoumen ose une comparaison entre le chef du parti nazi et le Goupil de la fable. Il y intercale des documents d'actualité, une série de gravures des dessins de Von Kaulbach et de Gustave Doré ainsi que des caricatures américaines.
Judgment at Nuremberg, 3h6
Directed by Stanley Kramer
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes Films about religion, Political films, Films about capital punishment, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximilian Schell
Roles Mrs. Bertholt
Rating82% 4.1486254.1486254.1486254.1486254.148625
Judgment at Nuremberg centers on a military tribunal convened in Nuremberg, Germany, in which four German judges and prosecutors stand accused of crimes against humanity for their involvement in atrocities committed under the Nazi regime. Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is the Chief Trial Judge of a three-judge panel that will hear and decide the case against the defendants. Haywood begins his examination by trying to learn how the defendant Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) could have sentenced so many people to death. Janning, it is revealed, is a well-educated and internationally respected jurist and legal scholar. Haywood seeks to understand how the German people could have turned blind eyes and deaf ears to the crimes of the Nazi regime. In doing so, he befriends the widow (Marlene Dietrich) of a German general who had been executed by the Allies. He talks with a number of Germans who have different perspectives on the war. Other characters the judge meets are U.S. Army Captain Byers (William Shatner), who is assigned to the American party hearing the cases, and Irene Hoffman (Judy Garland), who is afraid to bring testimony that may bolster the prosecution's case against the judges.
Touch of Evil, 1h35
Directed by Orson Welles, Harry Keller
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes La corruption policière
Actors Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Marlene Dietrich, Akim Tamiroff
Roles Tana
Rating79% 3.998433.998433.998433.998433.99843
On the U.S.-Mexico border, a time bomb is planted in a car. A man and woman enter the vehicle and make a slow journey through town to the U.S. border, the woman (Joi Lansing) insisting that she hears something ticking. Newlyweds Miguel "Mike" Vargas (Charlton Heston), a drug enforcement official in the Mexican government, and Susie (Janet Leigh) pass the car several times on foot. The car crosses the border, then explodes, killing the occupants. (The cut to the exploding car is the first one in the film, the single-camera opening sequence lasting nearly three and one-half minutes.)
Witness for the Prosecution, 1h56
Directed by Billy Wilder
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Una O'Connor, John Williams
Roles Christine Vole
Rating83% 4.1989654.1989654.1989654.1989654.198965
Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton), a master barrister in ill health, takes on Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) as a client, despite the objections of his private nurse, Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester), who says the doctor warns him against taking on any criminal cases. Vole is accused of murdering Mrs. Emily French (Norma Varden), a rich, older widow who had become enamored of him, going so far as to make him the main beneficiary of her will. Strong circumstantial evidence points to Vole as the killer, but Sir Wilfrid believes Vole is innocent.