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The film career of actressMarlene Dietrich started withsilent films, as she made her film debut withThe Little Napoleon (1923).^[1] She was propelled to international fame by directorJosef von Sternberg, who cast her as Lola-Lola inThe Blue Angel (1930). The film's commercial success brought her a contract withParamount Pictures in the United States.

Paramount sought to market Dietrich as a German answer toMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Swedish actressGreta Garbo. Her first American film,Morocco (1930), directed by Sternberg, earned Dietrich her onlyAcademy Award nomination. She would appear in several other films directed by Sternberg, includingDishonored (1931),Blonde Venus (1932) andShanghai Express (1932).

Dietrich and Sternberg's last two film collaborations,The Scarlet Empress (1934) andThe Devil Is a Woman (1935)—the most styled of their collaborations—were their least successful at the box office. Her first sound film without Sternberg was 1933'sThe Song of Songs, directed byRouben Mamoulian, although she and Sternberg would later work together another two times.

Without Sternberg, Dietrich—along withJoan Crawford,Mae West,Greta Garbo,Katharine Hepburn and others—was labeled "box office poison" after the filmKnight Without Armour (1937) proved abox office failure. In 1939, however, her stardom was revived when she played a cowboy saloon girl in the Western comedyDestry Rides Again oppositeJames Stewart, singing "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have".

While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in films, including appearances for such distinguished directors asBilly Wilder,Alfred Hitchcock andOrson Welles, in successful films that includedA Foreign Affair (1948),Stage Fright (1950),Witness for the Prosecution (1957),Touch of Evil (1958) andJudgment at Nuremberg (1961). Her final film appearance was as herself in the 1984documentaryMarlene.

In 1999, theAmerican Film Institute named Dietrich as the ninth-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema.

Complete list of television appearances (excluding news footage):

• Unicef Gala (Düsseldorf, 1962): Guest Appearance
• Cirque d'hiver (Paris, 9 March 1963): Cameo as "Garcon de Piste"
• Deutsche-Schlager-Festspiele (Baden-Baden, 1963): Guest Appearance
• Grand Gala du Disque (Edison Awards) (The Hague, 1963): Guest Appearance
• Galakväll pa Berns (Stockholm, 1963): Concert, with introduction by Karl Gerhardt and orchestra conducted byBurt Bacharach
• Royal Variety Performance (London, 4 November 1963): Guest Appearance
• The Stars Shine forJack Hylton (London, 1965): Guest Appearance
• The Magic of Marlene (Melbourne, October 1965): Concert, with orchestra conducted byWilliam Blezard.
• The 22nd AnnualTony Awards (New York, 21 April 1968): Acceptance Speech
• Guest Star Marlene Dietrich (Copenhagen – for Swedish Television, 1970): Interview
• I Wish You Love (An Evening with Marlene Dietrich) (London, 23 & 24 November 1972): Concert TV Special, with orchestra conducted byStan Freeman.

• Official Marlene Dietrich website
• Marlene Dietrich atIMDb
• Marlene Dietrich filmography at theTCM Movie Database

• Actress filmographies
• American filmographies
• German filmographies
• Marlene Dietrich

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