Dietrich, Maria Magdalene
1901 - Born on December 27th in Berlin, Germany. German-American motion-picture actress whose aura of sophistication and languid sensuality made her one of the most glamorous of all film stars.
1913 - Dietrich studied at a private school and learned both English and French by the age of 12. As a teenager she studied to be a concert violinist, but a wrist injury forced her to abandon her plans.
1923 - She turned to acting, enrolled in Max Reinhardt's Deutsche Theaterschule, and changed her name to Marlene. She eventually joined Reinhardt's theatre company. She attracted the attention of Rudolf Sieber, a casting director at UFA film studios, who began casting her in small roles.
1924-1929 - They were married and, after the birth of their daughter, Maria, Dietrich returned to theatre and film. The couple were separated five years after.
1930 - Director Josef von Sternberg saw Dietrich in a show in Germany and cast her as Lola-Lola, the sultry and world-weary female lead in Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), Germany's first talking film. The film's success catapulted Dietrich to stardom.
- She developed her femme fatale film persona with von Sternberg in Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blond Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman. She showed a lighter side in Desire and Destry Rides Again.
- Dietrich's great popularity made her a trendsetter; her adoption of trousers and other mannish clothes helped launch an American fashion craze.
1937-1946 - She became a U.S. citizen and made more than 500 personal appearances before Allied troops.
1948-1961 - After the war she continued to make successful films, such as A Foreign Affair, The Monte Carlo Story, Witness for the Prosecution, Touch of Evil, and Judgment at Nuremberg. She was also a popular nightclub performer.
1986-1987 - Appeared the documentary film Marlene, a review of her life and career, with a voice-over interview of the star by Maximilian Schell. Her autobiography, Ich bin, Gott sei Dank, Berlinerin (“I Am, Thank God, a Berliner”; Eng. trans. Marlene) appeared.
1992 - Died on May 6th in Paris, France.
1913 - Dietrich studied at a private school and learned both English and French by the age of 12. As a teenager she studied to be a concert violinist, but a wrist injury forced her to abandon her plans.
1923 - She turned to acting, enrolled in Max Reinhardt's Deutsche Theaterschule, and changed her name to Marlene. She eventually joined Reinhardt's theatre company. She attracted the attention of Rudolf Sieber, a casting director at UFA film studios, who began casting her in small roles.
1924-1929 - They were married and, after the birth of their daughter, Maria, Dietrich returned to theatre and film. The couple were separated five years after.
1930 - Director Josef von Sternberg saw Dietrich in a show in Germany and cast her as Lola-Lola, the sultry and world-weary female lead in Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), Germany's first talking film. The film's success catapulted Dietrich to stardom.
- She developed her femme fatale film persona with von Sternberg in Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blond Venus, The Scarlet Empress, and The Devil Is a Woman. She showed a lighter side in Desire and Destry Rides Again.
- Dietrich's great popularity made her a trendsetter; her adoption of trousers and other mannish clothes helped launch an American fashion craze.
1937-1946 - She became a U.S. citizen and made more than 500 personal appearances before Allied troops.
1948-1961 - After the war she continued to make successful films, such as A Foreign Affair, The Monte Carlo Story, Witness for the Prosecution, Touch of Evil, and Judgment at Nuremberg. She was also a popular nightclub performer.
1986-1987 - Appeared the documentary film Marlene, a review of her life and career, with a voice-over interview of the star by Maximilian Schell. Her autobiography, Ich bin, Gott sei Dank, Berlinerin (“I Am, Thank God, a Berliner”; Eng. trans. Marlene) appeared.
1992 - Died on May 6th in Paris, France.
Page last updated: 6:05pm, 07th Apr '07