Marlene Dietrich
1901-1992
http://www.biography.com/search/article.jsp?aid=9274574 Actress. Born Maria Magdalene Dietrich, on December 27, 1901, in Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany. Dietrich’s father, a German officer, died when she was 11 and her mother re-married a few years later. Dietrich studied piano and violin at the renowned Weimar Conservatory, but shortly after a wrist injury, she abandoned her dream to become a violinist. She enrolled at the Max Reinhardt Drama School, where she performed in a number of German stage productions. Throughout her early career, she also enjoyed success as a cabaret performer. Dietrich soon changed her name by removing various syllables, altering Maria Magdalene to Marlene. In May 1924, Dietrich married casting director Rudolf Sieber and nine months later the couple had their only child, Maria. Although they lived apart, Dietrich and Sieber remained legally married for over 50 years, until his death in 1975.
In 1929, she landed her first starring role in a German production titled The Ship of Lost Men. In the fall of 1929, Dietrich was discovered by German director Josef von Sternberg, who contracted the actress to star in The Blue Angel(1930), an American/German co-production. The international film launched Dietrich’s career and enabled her to move to the U.S. with Sternberg, where she fulfilled a long-term contract with Paramount Studios. Dietrich and Sternberg followed their American success with the film Morocco (1930), in which Dietrich portrayed a cabaret singer opposite Gary Cooper. Both critics and audiences applauded Dietrich’s performance. The studio took advantage of the actress’s popularity by marketing her as a rival to actress Greta Garbo. Paramount was rumored to have cast Dietrich in the role of a spy in Dishonored (1931) in order to mirror Garbo’s role in Mata Hari (1931).
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