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Marlene Dietrich

The Life

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Marlene Dietrich

Written by: Maria Riva
Narrated by: Christa Lewis
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About this listen

With intimate detail, author Maria Riva reveals the rich life of her mother, Marlene Dietrich, the charismatic star of stage and screen whose career spanned much of the 20th century. Opening with Dietrich's childhood in Schöneberg, Riva's biography introduces us to an energetic, disciplined, and ambitious young actress whose own mother equated show business with a world of vagabonds and thieves.

Dietrich would quickly rise to stardom on the Berlin stage in the 1920s with her sharp wit and bisexual mystique, and wearing the top hat and tails that revolutionized our concept of beauty and femininity. She comes alive in these pages in all her incarnations: muse, collaborator, bona fide movie star, box-office poison, lover, wife, and mother.

During World War II, Dietrich would stand up to the Nazis and galvanize American troops, eventually earning the Congressional Medal of Freedom. There were her artistic relationships with Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, Morocco, Shanghai Express), Colette, Erich Maria Remarque, Noël Coward, and Cole Porter, as well as her heady romances. And in her final years, Dietrich would make herself visibly invisible, devoting herself to the immortality of her legend.

©2017 Maria Riva (P)2020 Tantor Entertainment & Celebrities Film & TV Women Celebrity Morocco
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Holy moly

Oh what a larger than life woman! While the first half of her life was what I might have expected, it ultimately became bizarre. Definitely an unconventional life. It’s hard to say at what point she lost touch with reality, but she lived in her own world. Exceptionally well written by her daughter, and Marlene’s brilliance was revealed, as well as her foibles. Well narrated, especially as the voice changed between mother (Marlene) and daughter. A very long listen, but kept my attention.

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INCREDIBLE!

A finely crafted biography on Marlene Dietrich! Very engrossing and immersive. Maria Riva’s words paint a vivid picture sentence after sentence, it’s as if you’ve lived her life.

Will re-listen to it again in the future!

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