Marlene Dietrich's life: from Berlin to Hollywood, and back

The actress wasn't a star from the start. The difficult early years of her career are described by author Eva Gesine Bauer in her new biography about the actress. Marlene Dietrich first appeared in small roles on stage and on camera. She also performed in a dance review. Her big break came with the film "The Blue Angel" (picture).

Her first success, however, was a huge one. "The Blue Angel," by director Josef von Sternberg, turned the German actress into a major Hollywood star in just a few weeks. When the film premiered in Berlin, Dietrich was already in the US signing a lucrative contract for seven additional films.

Austrian-Hungarian director Josef von Sternberg is credited with having discovered the Hollywood diva. After the success of "The Blue Angel," he filmed six other films with Dietrich in Hollywood and made a virtually unknown German actress into a charismatic star of the silver screen.

But not all of her films saw success at the box office. While Sternberg's movies with the actress are now considered masterpieces of film history, that wasn't the case at the time. After the success of the first film, enthusiasm for the actress in America began to wane. Dietrich, however, was able to maintain the aura of a star and make a name for herself, despite her Hollywood flops.

Her unique androgynous yet glam look was a big part of what made her a star. Familiar with the wild nightlife of 1920s Berlin, Dietrich came to Hollywood well-aware of how to present herself. She often wore men's clothing, including trousers, hats and suits. As a result, she was a hit in Hollywood, although eyed suspiciously by conservative circles.

After gaining a reputation as an actress whose films were sure to fail at box offices, Dietrich managed to find her way back into the hearts of US audiences by the end of the 1930s. She was no longer staged as a cool and unapproachable beauty, but rather as a warmer and more approachable person. The new Dietrich persona can be seen in comedies such as "The House of Seven Sins" (1940).

During the Second World War when Dietrich was shooting one film after another, she often appeared in public and came to be considered a member of Hollywood's jet set. To generate publicity around the premiere of her 1942 film "Pittsburgh," she was photographed playing chess with co-star John Wayne.

Dietrich turned away from her home country when the Nazis came to power and accepted US citizenship in 1939. Throughout the war, she was active in assisting US troops and visited them in Europe, as shown in this picture.

After the war, Dietrich continued to shoot a film each year. She worked with well-known directors including Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang. In this picture, she's shown sitting next to British actor Michael Wilding during a musical in 1950.

Marlene Dietrich had many lovers, including actors, directors, producers, as well as people outside of the film industry. According to her biographer Eva Gesine Baur, her greatest love was French actor Jean Gabin.

Before Dietrich left the film business almost entirely at the end of the 50s, she had one more major performance. She shone alongside co-star Tyrone Power in the legal drama "Witness for the Prosecution" (1957), directed by Billy Wilder.

Just like Greta Garbo, she wanted to be remembered as an actress during her best years. As a result, she stepped away from the industry and appeared before camera only two times in the 1960s. Her withdrawal probably helped create her current status as a Hollywood icon. While she may not have gotten one in Hollywood, she received a star on Berlin's boulevard of the stars in 2010.

Marlene Dietrich died in her Paris apartment at the age of 91. The star was said to have had little contact with friends or family before her death. She was buried in a grave in Berlin: a final return to her hometown after a long journey.