siegfried
Posts: 13276
Joined: 16/12/2007
From: Long ago and far away
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Marlene Dietrich is one of the great icons of the 20th Century, but sadly today is not given the recognition that she deserves.
Born in a suburb of Berlin in 1901, she began her career as a performer in cabaret, and progressed to roles in musicals and comedies, as well as appearing in a number of silent films.
Her breakthrough came in 1930, when she was cast by Josef Von Sternberg as Lola in The Blue Angel, which brought her international stardom and led to her being brought to Hollywood by Paramount Studios.
Between 1930 and 1935, she starred in six films directed by Von Sternberg: Morocco (for which she received her only Oscar nomination), Dishonoured, Shanghai Express (their most successful film together), Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress and The Devil Is A Woman. Her next few films were box office failures, and led to her being labelled Box Office Poison, along with others including Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford and Mae West.
Her career was revitalised when she accepted the role of Frenchie, the saloon girl in Destry Rides Again opposite James Stewart.
In the lead up to the Second World War, Marlene Dietrich was approached by representatives of the Nazi Party to return to Germany. Being staunchly anti Nazi she refused, and instead became an American citizen in 1939. She worked tirelessly for the Allied war effort, entertaining the troops on the front lines, and selling War Bonds (she sold more than any other star). For this she was awarded the American Medal Of Freedom, and was also made a Chevalier and later Commander of the French Legion Of Honour.
Following the war she cut back on her film work, preferring instead to tour the world with her hugely successful cabaret show. She did, however, make notable appearances in films directed by Billy Wilder (A Foreign Affair, Witness For The Prosecution), Alfred Hitchcock (Stage Fright) and Orson Welles (Touch Of Evil).
Although during the war she had been labelled a traitor to Germany for her anti Nazi stance, she made a triumphant return to Berlin in the 1960s in a series of sell-out concerts.
In 1999, the American Film Institute named her among the top ten greatest female stars of all time.
In 2002, she was named an honorary citizen of Berlin, and a street was named in her honour - Marlene Dietrich Strasse. The Berlin Filmmuseum has an entire section devoted to her.
Marlene Dietrich died in seclusion at her home in Paris at the age of 90.
Not only one of the great stars of the screen, but a remarkable woman.
< Message edited by siegfried -- 8/3/2012 6:18:47 AM >
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