Marlene Dietrich Biography

During this time, she met and married casting director Rudolf Sieber, and her only child, Maria, was born. Although their marriage failed, they never divorced and remained amicable until her death.

Acting on stage, she became "The Toast of Berlin" in such plays as 'Duel on the Lido' and 'From Mouth to Mouth'. She acted in 17 silent movies between 1922 and 1929, most notably, 'Café Elektric'.

In 1929, the Jewish-Austrian Hollywood film director, Josef von Sternberg, cast her in 'Professor Unrat'. They began a six-year relationship and Dietrich went on to become a sultry screen siren.

Also in 1929, Dietrich starred as the seductive nightclub singer in one of the first German movies with sound, and 'The Blue Angel' launched Marlene Dietrich’s world movie career.

She portrayed her characters sometimes to shock as well as entertain. In her American debut with 'Morocco' in 1931, she created a sensation with her portrayal of a nightclub singer in black tails and top hat. The movie made headlines worldwide.

She became Hollywood’s leading empress of glamour, allure, and mystique, starring in glamorous and sometimes controversial films such as 'Song of Songs' and 'The Devil is a Woman'.

Joseph Goebbels offered to make her "The Queen" of German films if she made movies promoting Hitler, but she consistently refused.

She continued in films, starring with and being romantically linked to many of the most handsome leading men, until her career faltered in the early forties. She then focused her interests on entertaining Allied troops. After WWII she became a highly paid nightclub entertainer.

She died in her apartment in Paris in May 1992.