That’s how the actress and singer described herself in her autobiography, a figure whose allure transcends her on-screen and stage personas. Even during her lifetime, 55 books were written about her, and the mythic woman continues to intrigue with her blend of contradictions: independence and submission, freedom and discipline, passion and coolness, allure and aloofness, honesty and vice, pragmatism and selflessness. These qualities solidified her status as a star, earning her a spot in the ninth position of the “golden hundred” most outstanding actresses of classic Hollywood. This destiny, at the intersection of art, politics, and sexuality, holds a historical significance—marked by the fight against fascism, the flourishing of cinema, and the liberation of women. In all these realms, Marlene Dietrich took center stage.
Early Loss
The world-famous photo of a little blonde girl with ribbons and a hat captures 4-5-year-old Maria Magdalena during a challenging time for her family. It was then that her parents separated, and a year later, her father died of syphilis (spending his last days in a mental health clinic). Her mother remarried twice more (including to a friend of her father), and the death of her next husband from wounds sustained on the Eastern Front during World War I was, due to vague wording in Marlene Dietrich’s autobiography, perceived as the loss of her father.
It is believed that for her wealthy and stern mother, whom the children feared, marrying a police officer and former cavalry hero from the Uhlan regiment was an act of love, while 30-year-old Louis Dietrich married for financial reasons: Wilhelmina Elizabeth Josefine Felzing’s parents owned a watch and jewelry shop, providing a generous dowry for their daughter.
Girlhood Secrets
Sisters Liesel (Elizabeth) and Helena (the name given to the younger Maria Magdalena, who shortened her name to Marlene at 11) were born one after the other in the prestigious Schöneberg district of Berlin: February 5, 1900, and December 27, 1901. Practically contemporaries, the girls were very close in childhood, but in adulthood, they concealed their communication due to finding themselves on opposite sides of the “front line”: the younger Marlene would leave Germany before the war to work for the Allies, while the elder Elizabeth would remain in her country under the National Socialists, where the guards of the concentration camp would entertain themselves in the cinema and café owned by her and her husband.
Since Marlene barely remembered her father, she could only have inherited his charm and free spirit through her genes. The actress herself claimed that she inherited only a love for order and discipline from her parents. From a young age, she devoted herself to music (mastering the violin, piano, and lute) and studied languages (besides her native German, she was fluent in French and English, which later proved useful in her career and life). As a teenager, she became infatuated with her French teacher, who instilled in her enchanted student a “secret love for France.”
In Search of Happiness
Marlene was educated by governesses, and at 16, she enrolled in a Berlin lyceum, where she studied for only a year. A photograph remains from that time, showing her with the school orchestra, where Marlene played the violin dressed as a pirate. At 17, due to heart failure and depression, Marlene left the lyceum without obtaining her diploma. In November 1918, when Wilhelm II abdicated before the peace treaty, the girl wrote in her diary: “Why did my youth coincide with this terrible time? It would have been easier to endure if I were at least a little happy.”
At 17, Marlene went to improve her violin skills with a private teacher in Weimar. However, eight-hour music lessons with the professor did not help her gain admission to the Berlin Conservatory, and the former lyceum student had to settle for a job as an accompanist for silent film screenings at a cinema. A tendon issue in her finger ultimately dashed her dreams of becoming a violinist, and Marlene, searching for her path, turned her attention to acting.
From “Potato” to Diva
After private lessons with the director of the acting school at the German Theater, the cancan, tango, and tap dancer landed a position as a dancer in a nightclub, honed her vocal skills, and made her theatrical debut in a small role. At 22, thanks to her uncle’s acquaintance with a director, she appeared in her first film. In the 1923 movie “Such Men,” the young debutante was cast as a maid, and in the “potato with hair,” as the actress referred to her then-image, it was hard to recognize the future femme fatale even with a vivid imagination.
Marlene was aware of who and when transformed her into the Dietrich who captivated the world. She disliked recalling her work in the 1920s, as she considered herself “nothing” at that time. However, her encounter with Pygmalion likely wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t put in her own efforts before the prologue to filming with Josef von Sternberg. By the time of their first collaboration (one of seven) in the biography of the 28-year-old actress, she had already released her own record and starred in two significant film roles (“Café Electric” and “I Kiss Your Hand, Madame”), after which critics compared the young German to the sensational Swedish actress Greta Garbo.
High Relationships
There was even a husband and daughter. Young administrator Rudolf Sieber impressed the actress in a minor role on the set of “The Tragedy of Love.” The blonde Austrian immediately won Marlene’s trust, which remained unshakeable throughout her life. It didn’t matter that the young man had his sights set on the director’s daughter and the lead actress—he married the 22-year-old Dietrich in 1923. The following year, their beautiful daughter was born—future actress Maria Riva (now 98 years old).
Marlene and Rudolf’s wedding, 1923.
This marriage lasted until the husband’s death (he passed away from cancer in 1976): Marlene and Rudolf maintained their official status as a married couple for over half a century, although each lived their own life just five years later. The success of “The Blue Angel” allowed the actress to move to the United States immediately after its premiere in 1930, where German immigrant Sternberg, who had been carving his path in Hollywood since the 1920s, secured her a lucrative contract with Paramount (with a salary of $1,750 a week).
The Revolution of Femininity
Their first American film, “Morocco,” was nominated for an Oscar. No wonder: it was there that Dietrich shook the foundations of society by appearing on screen in a men’s suit for the first time. Many women around the world emulated her glamorous film character, who could no longer imagine life without pants. Yet the “revolutionary” Dietrich, while retaining her love for elegant skirts, feminine blouses, and beautiful dresses, was enchanting in a jacket and tie. It is said that she even requested to be buried in pants.
A scene from the film “Morocco” (1930)
Between 1930 and 1935, six more films were released in this creative partnership, including the famous “Shanghai Express.” Sternberg achieved a new depth of acting from his protégé, characterized by elegant slenderness, refined manners, and gestures typical of the “vamp” image. The director took on the rest of the tasks to create the desired effect: the script, makeup, costumes. Critics noted that after their collaboration ended, neither the actress nor the director achieved the same success as they did in tandem.
“I Was Right for Him”
“Without you, I’m nobody,” Dietrich wrote to Josef von Sternberg, continuing the phrase with words that stripped her benefactor of any advantages: “Only you manage to highlight my charms.”
Reflecting on her mentor and patron, who experienced a divorce due to his closeness with the actress, Marlene analyzed their alliance quite rationally: “I was right for him. I never interfered, never argued, and when necessary, I shared my thoughts, which the director listened to.”
Joe indeed considered the star’s behavior a “miracle”: “She was more diligent than any prop master, the first to hand me a pencil or chair because all her attention was directed at me.” The director acknowledged that Marlene always tried to please him and serve him, and he usually filmed scenes with her in one take.
The only thing the director could not demand from his “best companion and like-minded person” was fidelity. Playing with feelings was a common occurrence for the straightforward and independent Marlene. Initially, this attracted both men and women, but later broke their hearts. The lessons in acting school became a guide for Marlene that she applied in life: one must not let feelings control oneself; one must learn to control them.
James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich in the film Destry Rides Again (1939)
Without Spotlights and Cameras
“Happiness comes to the diligent,” the actress said, who had tender feelings for Ernest Hemingway (they were friends), Erich Maria Remarque (once the author of “Arch of Triumph” sat down at the table where Marlene and Joe were, and Sternberg discreetly left the future couple alone), and Jean Gabin (her six-year relationship with the French actor ended after he proposed to Marlene).
Due to her special trust, Dietrich showed letters from her lovers to her legal husband Rudy, whom she also brought to America and regularly supported financially. Rudolf lived on a ranch in California with their only daughter and his mistress—a Russian ballerina named Tamara Matul (Zvyagintseva), who ended her life in a psychiatric clinic in 1965 (murdered by a mentally ill patient).
“I am not bothered that it is impossible to keep one’s personal life a secret with a public career,” Marlene Dietrich shared. “But what I do without spotlights and cameras is nobody’s business.”
“Get Home!”
It is known that before the outbreak of World War II, Dietrich ignored the fascist government’s offer to film in Germany, and after obtaining U.S. citizenship (the actress was issued a new passport in 1939), she performed in anti-war propaganda broadcasts on American radio and spent three years giving concerts for Allied troops in North Africa, France, and Italy. The American military awarded Captain Dietrich a medal, while the French honored her with two orders.
Dietrich with U.S. military pilots during World War II, 1944.
In contrast, back home, the artist was labeled a traitor: her performances in Germany in 1960 were met with boos, surrounded by signs saying “Get home!” eggs were thrown at her, and she was even spat upon.
After the war, the star earned a living through tours (singing and once again picking up the violin), memoirs, advice and recipe books, and journalism (hosting radio shows).
A Life Without Roots
In her last film, 1979’s “Just a Gigolo,” the 78-year-old legend failed to draw an audience and did not appear on screen again. The biographical interview she gave to director, actor, and producer Maximilian Schell was only on the soundtrack, as she flatly refused to appear on camera. By that time, the star had moved to her beloved Paris. After ending her concert career following a hip fracture in 1975 (after falling off the stage in Sydney), Dietrich secluded herself in her Paris apartment and communicated with the world only by phone. “One must have a strong character to live without roots, in solitude,” Remarque wrote about his former lover.
Marlene Dietrich lived for 91 years and passed away on May 6, 1992. After her death, the great German returned home: the legend was buried in her native Berlin, in the very neighborhood where her long and often misunderstood earthly journey began.
