Marlene Dietrich
(1901-1992), ActressSitter in 12 portraits
Born in Berlin, Dietrich was one on the most successful and highly paid film actresses of the 1930s. In 1930 the director Josef von Sternberg cast her in The Blue Angel (1930), which launched both their Hollywood careers and through which her director created the Dietrich legend and myth. In 1939 Dietrich became an American citizen and during the Second World War entertained American troops helping to sell war bond and making anti-Nazi propaganda broadcasts in German. In 1948 when her daughter Maria gave birth Dietrich was heralded as the 'World's Most Glamorous Grandmother'. Dietrich is best remembered in her later years for her recording career as a singer and cabaret performer.
Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
by Iris Verlag
matte bromide postcard print, late 1920s
NPG x138252
Sir John Lavery and Marlene Dietrich in costume as Anna Sedlak on the set of 'I Loved a Soldier'
for Paramount Productions Inc.
bromide press print, 1936
NPG x194400
by John Engstead
halftone reproduction tear sheet, published 16 June 1954
NPG x193453
Marlene Dietrich; Bessie Braddock
by Keystone Press Agency Ltd
bromide press print, 6 June 1955
NPG x137616
Diners at Denham Studios Restaurant
by Anthony Wysard
watercolour and pencil, published 1937
NPG D312
by Cecil Beaton
pencil, late 1960s-early 1970s
NPG D17946(38)
by Cecil Beaton
pencil, late 1960s-early 1970s
NPG D17946(39)
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