Marlene Dietrich: the life of a classic movie star in pictures

The voice, the look, the legs, the pants suit. Marlene Dietrich is an icon and one of the few German artists of the 20th century who achieved international fame. She is number 9 on the American Film Institute's exclusive list of the 25 greatest female screen legends.

She was born 1.2 century ago, on December 27, 1901, in Berlin. Accompany us on a little foray through her turbulent life...

At eleven, Marie Magdalene Dietrich decided that her name would be Marlene. After school she began training as a concert violinist. A tendinitis intervened. But Marlene really wanted to go on stage and decided to become an actress.

In 1923 she married manager Rudolf Sieber. They split up in the 1930s but never got divorced.

In 1924 their daughter Maria was born. They had a very difficult relationship, which the daughter publishes in the book "Meine Mutter Marlene" after the death of her mother.

Her international breakthrough came with the film 'The Blue Angel', in which the director Josef von Sternberg gave the then unknown Marlene the female lead. The song 'I am love from head to toe' ('Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuss aus Liebe eingestellt') which she sings in the film, becomes a world hit.

Sternberg and Dietrich traveled to Hollywood, where Marlene began her career as a diva. She lost 10 kilos (22 pounds) and paid attention to her wardrobe, make-up and the ideal lighting for filming.

For 'Morocco,' alongside Gary Cooper, she was the first German actress to receive an Oscar nomination. It was the only one of her career. But her impressive and unusual presence on screen and in real life made her a myth.

The actress and singer made no secret of her numerous affairs with men and women. Cary Cooper, James Stewart, Erich Maria Remarque, Jean Gabin (married and allegedly her great love), John Wayne, Edith Piaf and Mercedes de Acosta are some of the names on the long list.

During the Second World War, Dietrich repeatedly made her aversion to the Nazis clear and visited the American soldiers.

From 1953 she was almost exclusively on stage as a singer. Unforgettable was her interpretation of 'Lili Marleen' .

In 1975 Dietrich fell into the orchestra pit at a concert evening in Sydney - presumably, she was drunk. The result: a complicated broken leg from which she would never fully recover.

Being unable to walk, she struggled with age and her own decline. It is said that she no longer wanted to look in a mirror. She also left her apartment in Paris less and less frequently. According to her daughter Maria Rivas, pills and alcohol were Marlene's frequent companions.

In 1979 she made the decision not to leave her bed anymore. Marlene Dietrich died 13 years later and now lives on as an icon.