Hollywood Yesterday

Marlene Dietrich Books

While I collect and treasure many types of books, there’s a special place in my heart for biographies and autobiographies, including my old Hollywood books. I read them cover to cover and visit and revisit them again and again and again.

When an actor, actress, or other historical figure is one of my favorites, I have a particular system in place… I collect every single book and magazine I can about them. Whether it’s Harriet Tubman or Abraham Lincoln or Marlene Dietrich or Maureen O’Hara, I believe having a “library” of books on a particular individual provides you with a far better education on them than just one book, alone.

It’s far better (when possible) to have their own words as well as the words of others. In fact, I think you often arrive at the truth and the whole picture when both are at your fingertips. After all, even the most honest stars were known to exaggerate every now and again!

Marlene Dietrich Photographs and Memories

The book you see above, Marlene Dietrich Photographs and Memories is the type of book I wish was available for all of my favorite stars. It is beyond wonderful and is a genius way to pay tribute to an individual.

Simply put, this gorgeous book is like having a Marlene Dietrich museum at your beck and call. One that’s never closed, you have entirely to yourself, and doesn’t mind in the least if you browse through the collection in your pajamas with coffee in hand.

Marlene Dietrich Photographs and Memories is FILLED with photos of the beautiful legend from childhood to her days in Hollywood – many photos I had never seen and, trust me, I am more than a little familiar with Marlene Dietrich (one of my all-time favorites).

This Marlene Dietrich museum… I mean this Marlene Dietrich book..  features many of the gorgeous costumes Marlene wore in her films, jewelry, trinkets, keepsakes, and private letters in her collection. To see the costumes in living color is something particularly exciting.

From the Back Cover:

Marlene Dietrich never threw anything away. She kept her good-luck rag doll (it appeared with her in The Blue Angel and followed her to dressing tables on every movie set). She kept the letters she received from, friends, colleagues, lovers, and her husband of fifty-three years. She kept every article of clothing made for her by the great French couturiers and many from legendary Hollywood costume designers. She kept everything.

After Dietrich’s death, all of the memorabilia were cataloged—25,000 objects and 18,000 images. Marlene Dietrich: Photographs and Memories brings together her treasures as depicted in 289 photographs from her own collection and features extended captions by her daughter and sole biographer, Maria Riva. We see Dietrich across the years and roles of her life: a child, a young actress in Berlin, a newlywed, a devoted American, a mother, and of course, a glamorous Hollywood legend.

An intimate look into the life of an unforgettable star, this collection offers fans more than just photos and memorabilia—it shares perspective from Marlene herself.

Marlene Dietrich Photographs and Memories

I love that the majority of the written content in this fascinating and richly informative book accompanies photographs. It makes for a delicious “coffee table” book that even the most casual old Hollywood fan would find impossible to put down.

Naturally, there are many other stars and familiar faces you will bump into on your visit. To see them interact with Marlene and read her thoughts about them and their thoughts about her makes the experience especially juicy!

Marlene Dietrich Photographs and Memories

Marlene Dietrich was extraordinarily charismatic, engaging, complex, and colorful… so much so that it would be very difficult for an author to capture all of the facets of her on paper. This particular approach works brilliantly for this actress because it allows you to stroll through her life and allow it to speak for itself.

And does it ever.

This is an exciting book, a gorgeous book, and one that you will be honored to have in your collection. The only problem is, as I said, you’ll find yourself wishing ALL of your favorites had such a tribute.

Find this and other Marlene Dietrich biographies and books on Amazon (Amazon link) or The University Press of Kentucky.

Marlene Dietrich