Marlene Dietrich, Queer Icon

Professor Andrew Lear is a world-renowned expert on sexuality in art and the author of the best-known book on sexuality in Greek vase-painting.  He is the founder of Oscar Wilde Tours, the gay history tour company, and Shady Ladies Tours, the woman's history tour company.

Andrew Lear

Join us for a fascinating tour through the life of film star, cabaret artiste and bisexual/queer icon, Marlene Dietrich.

<h3><em>Can&#x27;t make the live event?  No problem, you can watch the event at your convenience for 2 weeks.</em></h3><p>As a teenager, Berlin-born Marlene Dietrich camped out outside film premieres and celebrity galas hoping to catch a glimpse of the film stars she adored. Even in her wildest dreams she couldn’t have imagined it wouldn’t be too many years until her name was up on those same cinema billboards and she would be the one stepping out of limousines to greet adoring fans. </p><p>She learned her trade and found her identity on the wild cabaret stages and in the silent films of Weimar-era Berlin. In clubs like The Eldorado and The Silhouette, she met the cross-dressers and drag kings &amp; queens that dominated the city’s nightlife. It was a look she would emulate for the rest of her career. It became her signature look and she was rarely photographed in anything other than a tuxedo or sharp, tailored suit. </p><p>As the talkies arrived she was soon whisked away to Hollywood. A glittering career followed and she became one of the highest paid film stars and a visual icon for her LGBT+ generation. She quickly became known for her strong political convictions and bold, confident bisexuality. Never shy about her affairs with a succession of strong, successful women or men—among them, Errol Flynn, John F. Kennedy, Greta Garbo’s lover Mercedes Acosta and even, allegedly, Edith Piaf. </p><p>As a second world-war loomed, she refused the lucrative offers from the Nazi Party to return to Germany and became a US citizen in 1939. As the war went on she toured the battlefields entertaining the troops. Even taking some of the luckiest ones to bed with her. </p><p>Her film career continued in the 1940s &amp; 50s working with iconic directors like Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Wells. A one-woman cabaret show soon followed, devised alongside song-writer and musical director Burt Bacharach. Live performance was to be the shape of her life again. Glittering residencies followed in Las Vegas and London, and she was rumoured to be earning $30,000 a week. It was the epitome of camp and parodied  by drag queens the world over. </p><p>When her health deteriorated, she spent the last decade of her life mostly alone in her flat in Paris. She died in 1992. In May of that year, she was returned to Berlin and buried in her native Schöneberg, near her mother and the house she was born in.   The talk contains an eyewitness account of her funeral.</p><p>Join us on October 10th for a fascinating tour through the 90 year life of this extraordinary 20th Century queer  icon!  </p>

<h2>Speaker bio:</h2><p>Brendan Nash is an Irish writer and tour guide specialising in the Weimar era of 1919-1933. His first book A Walk Along The Ku’damm was published in 2015, followed by his first novel The Landlady in 2019. His weekly walking tour Isherwood’s Neighbourhood is now in its tenth year.</p>

<h3>When will the Zoom invite come?</h3><p>The Zoom invite will be in the CONFIRMATION EMAIL from your order—IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE IT IN YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL PLEASE MESSAGE US IMMEDIATELY. Subsequent to this, the Zoom invite will be sent to your email address at 48hrs, 2hrs, and 10mins before the event. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM AND SOCIAL FOLDERS IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE ZOOM INVITE IN YOUR INBOX.</p><h3>If I can't make the live recording, can I watch the event at another time?</h3><p>The event will be recorded, and all ticket holders will receive a link to the recording by email the evening after the presentation, with a password to access it.  It will be available to view for 2 weeks after the live event. If you do not receive the link to the recording a couple of hours after the live event please email us—sometimes Eventbrite emails can get lost in spam/social folders.</p><h3>What time zone is the event scheduled in?</h3><p>The event is scheduled for 2pm EST (i.e. New York time). You can watch it in any time zone but please adjust to the time zone you are in.</p><h3>Refund policy?</h3><p>Refunds are available up to the start time of the event. After the start time, refunds are only available if you have been unable to access the event.</p>

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Marlene Dietrich, Queer Icon

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Marlene Dietrich, Queer Icon

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