Marlene Dietrich is a legendary German and Hollywood actress. With her external data, expressive voice, and acting talent, this woman conquered the world. You will learn about her life path and artistic career from this article.
Origin
Dietrich Marlene was born in 1901, on December 27, in the city of Schöneberg, in Germany. Her father - Louis Erlich Otto Dietrich - was a military man, at the time of the birth of Maria Magdalena (this is the real name of the actress) served as a lieutenant in police. The mother of the future celebrity - Wilhelmina Josefina Felsing - was brought up in a wealthy family of watchmakers. Marrying a charming and beautiful, but not rich Otto in 1898, she made a mesalliance, which shocked all her relatives. However, not a single woman could resist the father of Marlene. First, the couple had the eldest daughter, Elizabeth, and a year later the youngest - Marie, the future Hollywood legend.
Childhood
The actress did not remember her father. Otto Dietrich passed away when Maria Magdalene was only six years old. A year before his death, the man left his family. The girl lived with her mother and sister very modestly. Josephine was a very strict mother, she never forgot or forgave anything. A woman in her family had the nickname "dragon." However, agile, cheerful and flirtatious Marie did not give in to training. To tame her daughter’s stubborn disposition, in 1907, Josephine sent Dietrich to a girls' boarding house in Weimar. There, the future actress instilled perseverance, hard work and thoroughness. However, this did not change the romantic character of young Marie. On the contrary, she came up with a new, more sonorous name, Dietrich Marlene, and determined to make a stage career.
Career development
In 1921, Marlene tried to become a violin student at the Higher Music School in Berlin. However, despite the excellent recommendations of the music teacher, Professor Reitz, failed the entrance exams. This did not cool the ardor of the future celebrity. Marlene Dietrich, whose biography is described in this article, decided to become an actress. She took vocal lessons, and everyone noted that she had a beautiful voice. The girl worked in the cabaret of Nelson Rudolph, where she sang in a revue and danced.
With her usual stubbornness, Marlene made her way into the world of big theater and cinema. In 1922, Dietrich did not go through a competition at the Reinhardt Max acting school in the German Theater. Then the girl went to Valleti Rosa, the famous cabaret actress. She, impressed by the vocal data of Dietrich, sent her to administrator Reinhardt, and Marlene was taken to acting school. In parallel with her studies, the girl begins to play in performances. The indefatigable Dietrich Marlene could play five roles in different theaters in Berlin over the evening. She did not forget about the cinema and constantly went to audition. True, she has not yet been offered large roles.
Finest hour
In 1928, the first record was released with songs performed by Marlene. A year later, a great event happened in the fate of the talented actress - director Joseph von Sternberg noticed her and invited her to the film “Blue Angel” for the role of singer Lola-Lola. This film shaped the personality of Dietrich, made her what she is remembered and loved by numerous fans. Sternberg created for Marlene a provocative and attractive image of an insidious seductress. He came up with costumes, make-up, picked up the lights and decorations, in which the artist looked like a diamond in an expensive setting. The Blue Angel became a cinematic icon awakening desires and dreams in the audience, and Dietrich Marlene became the greatest German actress.
Hollywood Career
The successful Blue Angel caught the attention of American filmmakers. In February 1930, Marlene signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and left to conquer Hollywood. Together with Sternberg, from 1931 to 1935, the actress shot six films in America that forever inscribed her name in the history of world cinema: Morocco, Defiled, Shanghai Express, The Venetian Blond, The Bloody Empress and The Devil - this is a woman". In all these films, the director masterfully emphasized the masculine beginning of the artist. The cylinder and tailcoat, in which Dietrich appeared on the screen in his first Hollywood film "Morocco", made a revolution in the public consciousness and fashion industry of that time. After the creative alliance with Sternberg ceased to exist, Marlene continued to act actively. However, her attempts to move away from the usual image were negatively perceived by critics.
War years
Marlene Dietrich, whose films do not cease to amaze and captivate the audience, flatly refused to work in National Socialist Germany. In response to the tempting proposals of Minister Joseph Goebbels, the actress in 1939 obtained American citizenship. During the war, Marlene temporarily abandoned her creative career and performed for three years with concerts in the Allied forces in France, Italy and North Africa. The living conditions on the hikes were very difficult. The actress had to change the bright outfits to a military uniform, sometimes she had to wash her head with thawed snow, but such trifles could not stop the purposeful woman. Marlene Dietrich, whose songs inspired and entertained fighters at the front, was an incomparable, incredible, magnificent goddess who descended from Hollywood Olympus to support ordinary soldiers. Over the years of hostilities, Dietrich took part in approximately five hundred performances. For courage and perseverance shown during the war years, Marlene was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor Officer and the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in France. In America, the actress was awarded the Medal of Liberty.
Unfortunately, in Germany, the actress's military feats were negatively reacted. In a devastated country, Marlene Dietrich was considered a traitor who went over to the side of the enemy.
Personal life
There are many legends about the personal life of the great actress. She is credited with novels with the most famous men and women of her time. However, we will try to stick to the facts. In May 1923, Marlene married Sieber Rudolph, the filmmaking administrator. The actress met him while working on the film "The Tragedy of Love." In 1924, a girl was born to a married couple. Happy parents called her Maria. In 1925, when the baby grew up a little, Dietrich returned to work again. However, the marriage of the great actress quickly cracked. Rudolph started an affair on the side. In response to this, the actress acted wisely: she did not begin to break the marital ties, but she terminated all personal relations with her husband. From now on, Marlene and Rudy (so affectionately called the artist of her husband) have become just close friends, trusting each other with all the heart secrets. After that, the woman had many novels. It is known that the famous Remarque and Marlene Dietrich were connected by a long relationship, which lasted until the death of the writer in 1970. The actress's greatest love was Jean Gabin, after parting with which the actress could not come to her senses for a long time. Over the years, the lovers of this fatal woman were: Orson Welles, Yul Brynner, Frank Sinatra, Bert Bakarak. Photos of Marlene Dietrich clearly demonstrate the mysterious charm and appearance of the great actress. Even at the age of sixty, she managed to impress men with her unfading youth and beauty.
Last period of life
In Sydney, in 1975, as a result of an accident, Marlene Dietrich was seriously injured. She had to leave an acting career. A year later, Rudolph Sieber died of cancer. The last movie job was for Marlene a cameo in the movie "Beautiful Gigolo - Poor Gigolo" with Bowie David in 1978. After that, the actress forever left the cinema and retired to her apartment in Paris, where she was bedridden for eleven years. From now on, she communicated with the outside world only by telephone. Shortly before death, a serious blow overtook Marlene Dietrich. Daughter Maria published scandalous memories of her famous mother. Later, researchers easily proved that most of the facts described in the book are pure fiction, but the actress did not live to see this day. She died in 1992, May 6, from a long illness. Marlene Dietrich’s body rests in a Berlin cemetery next to her mother’s grave.