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Medal of Freedom Recipient Marlene Dietrich, Actress
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Medal of Freedom Recipient Marlene Dietrich
Actress and Singer: 1901-1992
In 1901, Marie Dietrich (Maria Magdalene von Losch) was born as the daughter of a royal police lieutenant in Schöneberg near Berlin, parents Louis Erich Otto Dietrich and Elisabeth Josephine nee Felsing, and received an education that was appropriate for her class, which focused mainly on music. In 1922, however, due to a tendon inflammation, she had to discontinue her studies at the School of Higher Education for Music in Berlin. In the same year, she had an audition as "Marlene Dietrich" at the acting school of the German Theater and got her first role in "Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung." In 1930 came her break through with the leading role in "Der blaue Engel" under the direction of Josef von Sternberg. As a result, she moved to the U.S. and signed a 7 year contract with "Paramount Pictures."
In 1936, the National Socialist Joseph Goebbels offered her 200,000 Reichsmark for each German film that she would be in. However, she denied his offer. From 1930-1943, she played in numerous movies in the U.S., such as "Shanghai Express" and "The devil is a woman," until 1943/44, when she went on stage in front of American troops in North Africa, Italy, and France. On March 6, 1937 she became an American citizen.
She was so vigorous an anti-Nazi that in 1945 after World War II, she was honored with the "Medal of Freedom " from the American Ministry of War by Gen. Maxwell Taylor, the Commander of West Point and received the award "Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur" and "Officier de la Legion d'Honeur" from the French government. Dietrich reportedly braved icy mud and enemy fire to entertain Allied troops in the battle zones.
In 1960, she returned to Germany, where she was admired but also rejected because of "high treason." From 1976 on, she lived in Paris, and in 1987, she published her memoirs, entitled "Ich bin, Gott sei Dank, Berlinerin." Died in Paris in her sleep of kidney and lung failure; Services at La Madelaine May 10, Buried in Berlin next to her mother, May 16, 1992.
 Commemorating the 100th Birthday of Marlene Dietrich October 25-28, 2001
One of the most multi-valent icons of the 20th century is the German-American actress and chanteuse Marlene Dietrich, the only world star the German cinema ever produced. Her film career spans from Weimar Germany to the Hollywood studios where she worked between 1930 and 1961 with the most acclaimed Hollywood directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, Ernst Lubitsch, René Clair, Stanley Kramer, and most notably Josef von Sternberg with whom she made seven films between 1929 and 1935. Her subsequent career as a singer extended her fame through performances around the world. Combining Prussian discipline and work ethic with an extraordinary talent for reinvention, Dietrich had a professional career of some 70 years, one that included not only classic Hollywood cinema and the concert hall, but also silent film, classical theater, modern theater, musical comedies, vaudeville, the army camp shows, radio, recordings, television, even circus and the ballet.
 The life of Marlene Dietrich reflects the tumultuous and catastrophic history of Germany and its changing relation to the United States during the 20th century. Born in Berlin in 1901, she was a witness to World War I, the turbulent years of the Weimar Republic, and the rise of Nazism. After leaving for Hollywood in 1930, she only returned to her native country for short visits, resisting Joseph Goebbels’ many offers to join the film industry of the Third Reich. In the United States she rose to international stardom but she also experienced the callousness of the Hollywood studio system; when her films ceased to attract audiences she was labeled “box office poison” in 1937. A US citizen as of 1939, she actively supported the war effort by performing for US troops stationed abroad and was awarded the “Medal of Freedom ” in 1947, the first woman to receive this distinction. Dietrich’s first return to Germany after the war was in the company of US combat troops. Many Germans never forgave her for what they perceived as a betrayal, picketing her 1960 tour through Germany by demanding that “Marlene go home.” Her last public concert appearance was in Sydney in 1975. A recluse in her apartment for the last years of her life, Dietrich died in Paris in 1992, having willed her remains to be buried in her native Berlin.
The hundredth anniversary of Marlene Dietrich’s birth provides a particularly suitable occasion not only to take stock of the person and the persona, but also of Dietrich’s life and career which reflects the century to which she was such a prominent witness. A central concern for the study of Marlene Dietrich has to be the intersection of her biography and the image created of her in her films and public appearances. As a film star the camera of male directors formed her, and yet she remained very much a self-directed myth and became a legend already during her lifetime. As her biographer Steven Bach noted the perpetuation of “Marlene Dietrich”--the legend and the artifact--was one of the most disciplined and sustained creative acts of the 20th century. The Blue Angel established Dietrich’s image of a woman who is as openly sexual and lascivious as she is motherly. Yet truly provocative and innovative was her bisexuality--first in her 1920s performances with Margo Lion, and later in her US films directed by von Sternberg, most notably Morocco and Blonde Venus. “She has sex but no positive gender,” Kenneth Tynan wrote of her. Cool but triumphant, Dietrich is an index of gender crossover and star power, quoted and copied everywhere, from Liza Minelli to Raquel Welch. With Madonna, another blonde Venus, Dietrich shares a penchant for paradox, pertinence, and power, and like the rock star, Dietrich’s maiden name Maria Magdalene connotes the sinner-saint. Today, the performative value of her star persona is still being recognized in the transition to digital technology. Dietrich’s image has been purchased from the estate by #3DMaxMedia to create “virtual humans”--or what in the industry is called “synthespians”--to allow long-dead celebrities to appear in extensive roles in films, and thus her career will extend into the 21st century via new digital technologies.
Marlene Dietrich has become the focus of many divergent fields of academic inquiry, and it is the explicit purpose of this conference to create an interdisciplinary dialogue between modes of study that too often have remained monolithic. The invited speakers will therefore represent approaches to Dietrich from across a broad spectrum, including feminism, gender studies and queer theory; star discourse and the study of divas; exilic and diasporic cinema; studies of authorship, spectatorship, and censorship; studies of aging; analyses of Dietrich within the context of German-American (film) history and those countries' rival studio systems; and analyses of contemporary filmic and theatrical fictionalizations of Dietrich’s life and her legacy. There will also be discussions of the changing role of Dietrich within the cultural memory of contemporary Germany, and the challenges of organizing and exhibiting her “Nachlass.”
Prof. Mary Desjardins, Film Studies - Dartmouth College
FILMOGRAPHY
She most recently ranked as #9 in the American Film Institute's List of the 50 greatest film stars of the 20th century and was saluted in their television special "100 Years...100 Stars."
"Der Kleine Napoleon" (The Little Napoleon) (Germany 1923) Union-Film Production as "Kathrin"
"Tragodie Der Liebe" (Tragedy of Love) (Germany 1923) Joe May-Film as "Lucie"
"Der Mensch Am Wege" (The Man at the Roadside) (Germany 1923) Osmania-Film Production
"Der Sprung Ins Leben" (The Leap into Life) (Germany 1924) Oskar Messter-Film Production
"Die Freudlose Gasse" (The Joyless Street) (Germany 1925) Hischal-Sofar-Film Production
(uncredited, as an extra)
"Manon Lescaut" (Manon Lescaut) (Germany 1926) UFA-Film Production as "Micheline"
"Hopf Hoch, Charly!" (Heads Up, Charly!) (Germany 1926) Ellen Richter-Film Production as "Edmee Marchand"
"Eine Du Barry Von Heute" (A Modern Du Barry) (Germany 1927) Felsom-Film Production as "a coquette"
"Madame Wuenscht Keine Kinder" (Madame Doesn't Want Children) (Germany 1927) FOX Europa-Film Production
"Der Juxbaron" (The Bogus Baron) (Germany 1927) Ellen Richter-Film Production as "Sophie"
"Sein Grosster Bluff" (His Greatest Bluff) (Germany 1927) Nero Film-Production as "Yvette"
"Cafe Electric" (Cafe Electric) (Austrian 1927) Sacha-Film Production as "Erni"
"Prinzessin Olala" (Princess Olala) (Germany 1928) Super-Film Production as "Chicotte de Gastonie"
"Ich Kuesse Ihre Hand, Madame" (I Kiss Your Hand Madame) (Germany 1929) Super-Film Production as "Laurence Gerard"
"Die Frau, Nach Der Man Sich Sehnt" (The Woman One Longs For) (Germany 1929) Terra-Film Production as "Stascha"
"Das Schiff Der Verlorenen Menschen" (The Ship of Lost Souls) (Germany 1929) Max Glass Wengeroff-Film Production as "Miss Etbel"
"Gefahren der Brautzeit" (Dangers of the Engagement Period) (Germany 1929) Strauss-Film Production as "Evelyne"
"Der Blaue Engel" (The Blue Angel) (Germany 1929/30) An Erich Pommer-Production for Ufa, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "Lola-Lola." Costumes by: Tihamer Varady, Karl-Ludwig Holub.
Songs: Blonde Women; I'm Naughty Little Lola; Falling in Love Again
Cast: Emil Jannings, Kurt Gerron, Rosa Valetti, Hans Albers
"Morocco" (USA 1930) A Paramount Picture, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "Amy Jolly." Costumes by: Travis Banton.
Songs: Quand L'Amour Meurt; What Am I Bid For My Apple; Give Me the Man
Cast: Gary Cooper, Adolphe Menjou, Ullrich Haupt
"Dishonored" (USA 1931) A Paramount Picture, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "X-27." Costumes by: Travis Banton
Cast: Victor McLaglen, Lew Cody, Gustav von Seyffertitz
"Shanghai Express" (USA 1932) A Paramount Picture, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "Shanghai Lily." Costumes by: Travis Banton
Cast: Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland
"Blonde Venus" (USA 1932) A Paramount Picture, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "Helen Faraday." Costumes by: Travis Banton.
Songs: Hot Voodoo; You Little So-and-So; I Couldn't Be Annoyed; German Lullaby
Cast: Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Dickie Moore
"Song of Songs" (USA 1933) A Paramount Picture, directed by Rouben Mamoulian as "Lily Czepanek." Costumes by: Travis Banton.
Song: Heideroeslein; Jonny
Cast: Brian Aherne, Lionel Atwill, Alsion Skipworth
"The Scarlet Empress" (USA 1934) A Paramount Picture, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "Catherine the Great." Costumes by: Travis Banton
Cast: John Lodge, Sam Jaffe; Louise Dressler; Maria Sieber
"The Fashion Side of Hollywood" (USA 1935) A Paramount Picture, Adolph Zukor as herself at a costume fitting. Costumes by : Travis Banton
a short subject: a style preview which included the upcoming motion picture, The Devil is a Woman
Cast: Kathleen Howard, Travis Banton, Joan Bennett, Claudette Colbert, Mae West
"The Devil is a Woman" (USA 1935) A Paramount Picture, directed by Josef von Sternberg as "Concha Perez.." Costumes by: Travis Banton.
Song: Three Sweethearts Have I; (If It Isn't Pain) Then It Isn't Love
Cast: Lionel Atwill, Cesar Romero, Edward Everett Horton
"Desire" (USA 1936) A Paramount Picture, directed by Frank Borzage as "Madeleine de Beaupre." Costumes by: Travis Banton.
Song: Awake in a Dream
Cast: Gary Cooper, John Halliday, William Frawley
"The Garden of Allah" (USA 1936) A Selznick-International Picture, released through United Artists, directed by Richard Boleslawski
as "Domini Enfilden." Costumes by : Ernest Dryden
Cast: Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith
"I Loved a Soldier" (USA 1936) A Paramount film, directed by Henry Hathaway (Film never completed)
Cast: Charles Boyer, Akim Tamiroff, Walter Catlett, Paul Lukas
"Knight Without Armour" (GB 1937) Alexander Korda/London Films Presentation, directed by Jacques Feyder as "Countess Alexandra." Costumes by: George Benda
Cast: Robert Donat, Irene Vanburgh, Herbert Lomas
"Angel" (USA 1937) A Paramount Picture, directed by Ernst Lubitsch as "Lady Maria Barker." Costumes by: Travis Banton.
Song: Angel
Cast: Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas
"Destry Rides Again" (USA 1939) A Universal Picture, directed by George Marshall as "Frenchy." Costumes by: Vera West.
Songs: Little Joe the Wrangler; You've Got That Look (That Leaves Me Weak), The Boys in the Backroom
Cast: James Stewart, Charles Winninger, Mischa Auer
"Seven Sinners" (USA 1940) A Universal Picture, directed by Tay Garnett as "Bijou." Costumes by: Irene.
Songs: The Man's in the Navy; I've Been in Love Before; I Can't Give You Anything But Love Baby; I Fall Overboard
Cast: John Wayne, Broderick Crawford, Mischa Auer, Albert Dekker
"The Flame of New Orleans" (USA 1941) A Universal Picture, directed by Rene Clair as "Claire Ledeux." Costumes by: Rene Hubert.
Song: Sweet as the Blush of May
Cast: Bruce Cabot, Roland Young, Mischa Auer
"Manpower" (USA 1941) A Warner Bros.-First International Picture, directed by Raoul Walsh as "Fay Duval." Costumes by: Milo Anderson.
Songs: He Lied and I Listened, I'm in No Mood for Music Tonight
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, George Raft, Alan Hale
"The Lady is Willing" (USA 1942) A Columbia Picture, directed by Mitchell Leisen as "Elizabeth Madden." Costumes by: Irene.
Songs: Strange Thing (And I Find You)
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Aline MacMahon, Stanley Ridges
"The Spoilers" (USA 1942) A Universal Picture, directed by Ray Enright as "Cherry Mallotte." Costumes by: Vera West
Cast: Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Margaret Lindsay
"Pittsburgh" (USA 1942) A Universal Picture, directed by Lewis Seiler as "Josie Winters." Costumes by: Vera West
Cast: Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Frank Craven
"Follow the Boys" (USA 1944) A Universal picture, directed by Eddie Sutherland as herself. Costumes by: Vera West
Cast: George Raft, Vera Zorina, Grace McDonald, Charley Grapewin, Charles Butterworth, Orson Welles
"Kismet" (USA 1944) An MGM Picture, directed by William Dieterle as "Queen of Monlight Jamilla." Costumes by: Irene, Karinska.
Songs: Willow in the Wind; Tell Me, Tell Me, Evening Star
Cast: Ronald Colman, James Craig, Edward Arnold
"Martin Roumagnac" (France 1946) An Alcina Production, directed by Georges Lacombe as "Blanche Ferrand." Costumes by: Jean Desses.
Cast: Jean Gabin, Margo Lion, Marcel Herrand
"Golden Earrings" (USA 1947) A Paramount Picture, directed by Mitchell Leisen as "Lydia." Costumes by: Mary Kay Dodson.
Songs: Golden Earrings
Cast: Ray Milland, Murvyn Yve, Bruce Lester, Dennis Hoey
"A Foreign Affair" (USA 1948) A Paramount Picture, directed by Billy Wilder as "Erika von Schluetow." Costumes by: Edith Head.
Songs: Black Market; Ruins of Berlin; Illusions
Cast: Jean Arthur, John Lund, Millard Mitchell
"Jigsaw" (USA 1949) A Tower Pictures Production, released by United Artists, directed by Fletcher Markle
as night club patron (cameo).
Cast: Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace, Myron McCormick, Marc Lawrence
"Stage Fright" (GB/USA 1950) A Warner Bros.-First National Picture, directed by Alfred Hitchcock as "Charlotte Inwood." Costumes by: Christian Dior.
Songs: Love is Lyrical; The Laziest Gal in Town; La Vie En Rose.
Cast: Jane Wyman, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd
"No Highway in the Sky" (GB 1951) A Twentieth-Century-Fox Picture, directed by Henry Koster as "Monica Teasdale." Costumes by: Christian Dior
Cast: James Stewart, Glynis Jones, Jack Hawkins
"Rancho Notorious" (USA 1952) RKO, Fidelity Pictures Production, directed by Fritz Lang as "Altar Keane." Costumes by: Don Loper.
Songs: Gypsy Davey; Get Away,Young Man
Cast: Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, Lloyd Gough, Gloria Henry
"Around the World in Eighty Days" (USA 1956) A Michael Todd Company, Inc. Production, released by UA, directed by Michael Anderson as saloon girl (cameo). Costumes by: Miles White
Cast: David Niven, Cantinflas, Robert Newton, Shirley MacLaine
"The Monte Carlo Story" (Italy/USA 1957) A Titanus Production, released through United Artists, directed by Samuel A. Taylor as "Marquise Maria de Crevecoeur." Costumes by: Jean Louis.
Songs: Les Jeux Sont Faits; Rien ne Va Plus; Back Home Again in Indiana
Cast: Vittorio de Sica, Arthur O'Connell
"Witness for the Prosecution" (USA 1958) An Edward Small-Arthur Hornblow Production, released through UA, directed by Billy Wilder as "Christine Vole." Costumes by: Edith Head.
Song: I May Never Go Home Anymore
Cast: Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
"Touch of Evil" (USA 1958) A Universal International Picture, directed by Orson Welles as "Tanya" (cameo). Costumes by: Bill Thomas
Cast: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Zsa Zsa Garbor, Joseph Cotten
"Galakvaell pa Berns" (1960) produced by Arne Arnbom, as herself - in concert. Costumes by: Jean Louis. Introduction by Karl Gerhard
Songs: I Can't Give You Anything But Love; La Vie En Rose; See What The Boys In The Backroom Will Have; Johnny; The Laziest Gal In Town; They Call Me Naughty Lola; Honeysuckle Rose; Lili Marlene; Where Have All The Flowers Gone; Falling In Love Again
"Judgment at Nuremberg" (USA 1961) A Roxlom Production, released through United Artists, directed by Stanley Kramer as "Madame Berthold." Costume by: Jean Louis
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark
"The Black Fox" (USA 1962) Arthur Steloff-Image Productions, distributed by MGM, directed by Louis Clyde Stoumen. Costumes by: Chanel as narrator of this documentary.
"Paris When It Sizzles" (USA 1964) A Paramount Picture, directed by Richard Quine as herself (cameo). Costumes by: Christian Dior
Cast: William Holden, Audrey Hepburn, Gregoire Aslan, Noel Coward
"An Evening with Marlene Dietrich" (USA/GB 1972) produced by Benwood Television Cooperation; filmed at the New London Theatre, England as herself in concert Costumes by: Jean Louis
Songs: I Get A Kick Out Of You; You're The Cream In My Coffee; My Blue Heaven;
The Boys In The Backroom; The Laziest Gal In Town; When The World Was Young; White Grass; Boomerang Baby; La Vie En Rose; Lola; Lili Marlene; Where Have All The Flowers Gone; Honeysuckle Rose; Falling In Love Again
"Just a Gigolo" (GB/Germany 1978) A Leguan Film Production, directed by David Hemmings as "Baroness von Semering." Costumes by: Mago, Chanel.
Songs: Just a Gigolo
Cast: David Bowie, Sydne Rome, Kim Novak, Maria Schell
"Marlene: A Feature" (Germany/USA 1982-84) An Oko-Film (Germany)/Zev Braun Production (America), directed by Maximilian Schell as narrator of her live, film- and concert clips
Cast: Maximilian Schell, Bernard Hall
AWARDS
1932 Nominated Oscar
Best Actress for: Morocco (1930)
German Film Awards
1980 Won Honorary Award
For her continued outstanding individual contributions to the German film over the years.
DISCOGRAPHY
Discography (albums):
1950 Souvenir Album Decca
1952 American Songs in German for the OSS Columbia
1953 Dietrich in Rio Columbia
1954 The Marlene Dietrich Album: Live at the Cafe de Paris Columbia
1956 Marlene Dietrich (ASV/Living Era) ASV/Living Era
1959 Lili Marlene (English) Columbia
1959 Lili Marlene (German) Columbia
1964 Marlene Dietrich Album: Live at the Cafe de Paris CBS
1964 Marlene Dietrich in London (live) Drg
1965 Marlene Capitol
1969 The Magic of Marlene Capitol
1974 Marlene Dietrich's Berlin Capitol
1994 Come Up and See Me Sometime! Milan
1994 Das War Mein Milljoh Tristar
1995 In RioK- Tel
1996 LegendePmf Music Fact
1997 Marlene Dietrich (Empire) Empire
Marlene Dietrich (Bella Musica) Bella Musica
On Screen Stage & Radio Legend
The Blue Angel Pro Arte
Marlene Dietrich (Koch) Koch Int.
Discography (compilations, boxes):
1992 The Best of Marlene Dietrich Columbia
1992 The Essential Marlene Dietrich Capitol
1993 Marlene Dietrich (Cine-Stars) Cine-Stars
1993 The Cosmopolitan Marlene Dietrich Columbia
1994 Her 18 Greatest Hits Music Club
1996 Falling in Love Again (Hallmark) Hallmark
1995 More of the Best Delta
1996 Some of the Best Delta
1997 Great Goldies
1997 On Records & Radio Enterprise
1998 Lili Marlene (Arkadia Chansons) Arkadia Chanso
1999 Falling in Love Again (MCA) MCA
1997 In Concert (live) Records
1928-1933 ASV/Living Era
Her Complete Decca Recordings MCA
The Early Years Preiser
Discography (appears on):
1913 This Is Art Deco
1933 Freddy Johnson 1933-1939
1956 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook
1991 Best of Christmas (Capitol)
1994 We'll Meet Again: The Love Songs
Flapper Box
BOOKS AUTHORED
Marlene Dietrich's ABC (1960)
Nehmt Nur Mein Leben (1979) (her autobiography)
TRIVIA
Born at 9:15pm-CET
Her estate, consisting of about 300.000 pieces, was bid for $5 million dollars by the city of Berlin, Germany.
Salary was $200,000/film
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Medal History
