Dietrich, Marlene

(1901-1992)

   The German-born actress and singer was born Maria Magdalena Dietrich in Berlin, Germany, but she adopted Marlene as her stage name. She made a number of successful films in Germany before moving to Hollywood in 1930. There she made Morocco (1930), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), Scarlet Empress (1934), and The Devil Is a Woman (1935) and became one of the highest-paid actors. After a lull, her career picked up in 1939 with the Western Destry Rides Again. Having refused to return to Germany, Dietrich became a U.S. citizen in 1939, and during the war she worked tirelessly in bond drives and in 1943 gave up making films to work with the United Service Organizations to entertain troops in the United States and Europe. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honor for her war services.

   Dietrich returned to her film career after the war and made several films in the late 1940s and 1950s. She also developed a singing career. In the late 1950s, she appeared in Witness for the Prosecution (1958), Touch of Evil (1958), and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). Her last film appearance was in Just a Gigolo (1978).

   See also Cinema.