Marlene Dietrich

¿Qué pasaría por la mente de esta mujer de carácter que no le importó vivir como vivió y buscar nuevos horizontes cuando podría haber trabajado tranquilamente bajo el régimen nazi? Marlene Dietrich fue una mujer independiente, amó tanto a hombres como a mujeres y se involucró en la política y en la lucha por los derechos humanos. En 1965 se convirtió en la primera mujer, y alemana, en recibir la medalla israelí al valor. Marlene Dietrich, una mujer con todas las letras. En vocabulario: marquee

Dietrich was known for her humanitarian efforts during the war, housing German and French exiles, providing financial support and even advocating their U.S. citizenship…

In 1920s Berlin, Dietrich acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international acclaim and a contract with Paramount Pictures. Dietrich starred in Hollywood films such as Morocco (1930), Shanghai Express (1932), and Desire (1936). Although she still made occasional films after the war such as Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Dietrich spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer.

Dietrich was known for her humanitarian efforts during the war, housing German and French exiles, providing financial support and even advocating their U.S. citizenship. For her work on improving morale on the front lines during the war, she received several honors from the United States, France, Belgium, and Israel.

Marlene in Shangai Express

In 1953, Dietrich was offered a then-substantial $30,000 per week to appear live at the Sahara Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The show was short, consisting only of a few songs associated with her. This engagement was so successful that she was signed to appear at the Café de Paris in London the following year; her Las Vegas contracts were also renewed.

Dietrich's return to West Germany in 1960 for a concert tour was met with mixed reception— despite a consistently negative press, vociferous protest by chauvinistic Germans who felt she had betrayed her homeland, and two bomb threats, her performance attracted huge crowds. On the other hand, Dietrich was warmly welcomed by other Germans, including Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt, who was, like Dietrich, an opponent of the Nazis who had lived in exile during their rule. She also undertook a tour of Israel around the same time, which was well-received. She would become the first woman and German to receive the Israeli Medallion of Valor in 1965, "in recognition for her courageous adherence to principle and consistent record of friendship for the Jewish people".

Unlike her professional celebrity, which was carefully crafted and maintained, Dietrich's personal life was, for the most part, kept out of public view. She was fluent in German, English, and French. Dietrich, who was bisexual, enjoyed the thriving gay scene of the time and drag balls of 1920s Berlin. She also defied conventional gender roles through her boxing at Turkish trainer and prizefighter Sabri Mahir's boxing studio in Berlin, which opened to women in the late 1920s.

Para saber

Café de Paris first opened in 1924 and subsequently featured such performers as Dorothy Dandridge, Marlene Dietrich, Harry Gold, Harry Roy, Ken Snakehips Johnson and Maxine Cooper Gomberg. Louise Brooks made history when she worked there in December 1924, introducing the Charleston to London.

Much of the early success of the Café de Paris was due to the visit of the then Prince of Wales who became a regular guest, often dining with notables from high society across Europe. Cole Porter was a regular, as was the Aga Khan.

During World War II, on 8 March 1941, the café was bombed soon after the start of a performance and at least 34 people were killed and around 80 injured.

The venue did not reopen until 1948 but re-established itself as one of the leading theatre clubs in London, playing host to Judy Garland, Josephine Baker, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, James Mason, David O. Selznick, Jennifer Jones, Tony Hancock and Grace Kelly. In the 1950s Noël Coward often performed cabaret seasons at the Café de Paris as did Marlene Dietrich.

Vocabulario

Marquee: being the main performer in a show, whose name will attract most people to it:

The studio wanted a marquee name in the lead role, not some unknown.

Marlene Dietrich - Lili Marleen

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