Marlene Dietrich
"hated sex," according to her daughter

Despite her legendary affairs with the likes of John F. Kennedy and Greta Garbo, sultry actress Marlene Dietrich, one of the 20th century's most iconic figures, hated sex and had a schizophrenic personality, according to her daughter Maria Riva. In an interview with German magazine Bunte, to be published on Thursday, Riva said Dietrich's aversion to sex did not deter countless men from pursuing her. "All of her lovers wanted to marry her anyway," the magazine quoted the 81-year-old Riva as saying.

Riva, who has written a memoir titled My Mother Marlene, said that Dietrich's hatred of sex and sometimes distant personality often made Riva feel sorry for the men who fell in love with her glamorous mother. "Marlene Dietrich the film star was always just the person in the mirror, but never her real self," said Riva. "She was a totally normal schizophrenic."

Dietrich's performances in Berlin cabarets and more than a dozen German films during the 1920s prompted her discovery by American film producers. She moved to Hollywood in 1930, where her roles in American productions propelled her rise to fame. During the 1930s Dietrich became a vocal opponent of the Nazi leadership in her native Germany, and she became an American citizen in 1937. She died in Paris in 1992. (Reuters, with additional reporting by Advocate.com)