IN 1984, NOT LONG AFTER I COMPLETED THE FINAL draft of a biography of Tennessee Williams, I decided to prepare a short book on the career of Marlene Dietrich. Published the following year under the title Falling in Love Again, it was never intended to be a complete life story but rather a reflective essay with photos on her various film roles. But during the research I was fascinated by the life behind the work, and so I began to dig deeper. Thus Blue Angel: The Life of Marlene Dietrich has taken shape over eight years, even as other books were begun and published.
Biographers (perhaps preeminently among practitioners of the writer’s craft) owe much to the practical assistance of others. En route to publication, throughout Europe and America, I was the fortunate recipient of kind and generous help from friends and from strangers who quickly became friends.
Crucial interviews relative to the life of Marlene Dietrich were granted by the late Rupert Allan, Robert Anderson, Pierre Barillet, Leonard Blair, Vivien Byerley, Barrie Chase, Alexander H. Cohen, Robert Colbaugh, Frederick Combs, the late Cheryl Crawford, Laurence Evans, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Dean Goodman, Ethel Grand, the late Alfred Hitchcock, Harry Horner, Jean Howard, Hilary Knight, Stanley Kramer, Stefan Lorant, Jean Louis, Col. Barney Oldfield, USAF (Ret.), the late Lotta Palfi-Andor, Eileen Palmer, Hildy Parks, Cesar Romero, Maximilian Schell, Nicholas von Sternberg, Peter White and Billy Wilder.
Librarians and archivists round the world were without exception unfailingly helpful as I pored through documents. Especial gratitude is due Angela Singleton, at the British Broadcasting Service/Data Enquiry Service; the staff at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center; Alan Braun and Gladys Irvis at the library of the American Film Institute; the staff of the British Film Institute; and the personnel of the Berlinische Galerie (Berlin), the Deutsches Literaturarchiv/Schiller Nationalmuseum, the Süddeutscher Verlag (Munich), the Serkis Film-archiv, Berlin, and the Akademie der Künste Berlin.
Once again, Marvin Eisenman, one of the world’s most knowledgeable film archivists, enabled me to see Dietrich films that were otherwise virtually impossible to locate. His gracious help was invaluable.
Karin Brettauer very generously gave me access to (and permission to quote) important family papers, the unpublished memoirs of her aunt, Grete Mosheim. These lively documents by a noted German actress who knew and worked with Dietrich in the 1920s were, I soon discovered, indispensable for a fuller understanding of my subject’s early life and career.
Assistance in translating from the German various particularly formidable papers, letters and documents was cheerfully and patiently provided by Dr. Jon Zimmermann, professor of German at the California State University at Fullerton; by Henriette Fremont; and by Annemarie Moore and Nicholas Vazsonyi.
In Honolulu, Kim Reineman provided warmly supportive hospitality at his home, where I wrote portions of this book; he also read several chapters of the first draft and made incisive suggestions.
Irene Mahoney, who is a highly respected biographer, playwright and historian (and a dear friend for over forty years), urged me to reconsider some vital matters after she read the first several chapters; her counsel was well taken. When she then had to resume her own several projects round the world, another gifted writer gave me generous and tangible proof of his abiding friendship: the playwright, producer and screenwriter Mart Crowley read the completed first draft of my typescript, raised many important issues for my deliberation, corrected several important matters of fact and in more ways than I can detail improved both the content and tone of Blue Angel. And Douglas Alexander, my editorial assistant since 1988, again applied his considerable critical skills to every stage of the book’s research, and his comments as I was writing it. I salute his keen mind and abiding loyalty.
At Doubleday, I was fortunate indeed to have Shaye Areheart for my editor, for she is a keen-eyed, dexterous and prudent guide through the thickets of a book’s final preparation for publication. Shaye also became a good friend, and I am enormously grateful for her wit, her intelligence and her confidence in me and my work. Her associates, Bruce Tracy and Scott Moyers, cheerfully dispatched numerous everyday matters, always facilitating the author’s tasks and thus his life.
Likewise in London. From the first day, Mark Barty-King and James Cochrane at Bantam were enthusiastic for this book; they, too, made important editorial emendations and, like their New York colleagues, added leavening friendship to professional contributions. It is difficult for me to imagine, with such a team of international collaborators, that there may somewhere be a writer more fortunate than myself.
But the litany of saints continues: for almost fifteen years I have been represented by my dear friend Elaine Markson, who is ever the most vigilant and attentive agent, a woman of honor as of humor, endlessly indulgent with me, as alert for my contentment as for my career. Elaine’s associates—Geri Thoma, Karen Beisch, Sally Wofford, Caomh Kavanagh and Lily Zivkovic—are loyal and spirited colleagues, and I am grateful to them each and all for their many kindnesses.
THE DEDICATION PAGE OF BLUE ANGEL BEARS THE name of an esteemed and trusted friend who came into my life in 1987, soon after I moved to the West Coast from the East. Kirtley Thiesmeyer is my attorney—and ever so much more. He is a daily counselor in matters of contracts and career, but he is also a cherished comrade whose concern, support and gentleness of spirit enrich my life in more ways than he can ever know. I respect his integrity, just as I learn constantly from his probity and patience, his good humor and his courage. Additionally, he and his wife Dee have countless times extended to me the warmth of their home and included me within the circle of both their family and their friendships. In testimony of my love and appreciation, I offer this book to Kirtley, a small enough return for all he gives me.
D.S.
Los Angeles: January 1992