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)