Mary Kenny met the star when she was drowning her sorrows and mourning the loss of her looks
I was dispatched to interview Marlene Dietrich when she appeared in London in 1969. The legendary diva seemed somewhat depressed. ‘All my friends are dead – Hemingway, Jean Cocteau,’ she lamented. I clocked that she was somewhat cheesed off about growing old – and worse was to follow. After her daughter Maria Riva’s death a few months ago, aged 100, La Dietrich’s last years were tragically highlighted in the obituaries: afflicted by arteriosclerosis and crippled by falls, she became a whisky and drug addict. Her beautiful legs – once insured for millions – withered, and her teeth grew blackened and cracked. She used a Limoges jug as a chamberpot and flew into drunken rages, according to Maria. If I could go back to 1969, I’d say to Marlene, ‘Don’t resist growing old and losing your looks. Just go serenely with the flow.’ Is there any chance that, in 2026, commentators...
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