Marlene Dietrich was born Maria Magdalene Dietrich on December 27, 1901 in Berlin, Germany. She began using Marlene as her professional stage name in her late teens because her parents disapproved of her acting career. Dietrich quickly became successful in her native Germany and starred in the country’s first “talkie†(movie with sound) which was made by Hollywood director Josef von Sternberg. An English version of “Der Blaue Engel†(The Blue Angel) was also released in America and catapulted Dietrich to superstardom. The sultry, husky-voiced beauty often played the roles of an unapologetic femme fetale nightclub dancer or lounge singer. She redefined notions of femininity in many ways. Some of her most notable films after The Blue Angel include Morocco, Shanghai Express, The Devil Is a Woman, Witness for the Prosecution and Judgment at Nuremberg. Her acting career spanned about 40 years and by the time she was in her 50s, Marlene focused on her also successful singing career giving performances throughout North America and Europe. She settled in Paris in her 80s and famously became a recluse, forbidding the world to see her in her advanced stages of age. She lived to be 90 years old and is buried next to her mother in Berlin.
