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She was an entertainer for an astonishing 50-some years, from the 1920s to 1978. She was glamour personified, a luminary in the golden age of cinema, someone who could look sexy even in a gorilla suit. But she was also so much more. When the world exploded, when the ground shifted under her feet, she was also incredibly heroic.
Marlene Dietrich, born in Berlin 115 years ago today, was a fierce soldier in the fight again fascism. Throughout World War II, she was insanely brave and entertained Allied troops all over Europe and in North Africa. Director Billy Wilder reportedly once joked that she was at the front lines more than General Eisenhower.
Dietrich came to the United States in 1930, on the heels of her breathtaking success as the louche dancer Lola Lola in The Blue Angel. In the 1930s, she was approached by representatives of the Nazi government, who tried to convince her to return to her homeland. In response, she renounced her German citizenship and became an American citizen. “The Germans and I no longer speak the same language,” she said.
She, according to reports, worked to get Jews and dissidents out of Germany; she sold war bonds. Above all, she was a constant, highly visible presence in some of the most dangerous theaters of war around the globe. Asked once why she was so dauntless, she replied simply: “Aus anstand”—out of decency.
What an example she set! On another occasion, she mused, “It’s the friends you can call up at 4:00 a.m. that matter.” Oh, Marlene, if only we could call you up right now and get some advice on how to be wildly glamorous—and even more important, fiercely courageous!—in times like these.