Marlene’s career began to take off in Germany in the late 1920’s.  With her sultry looks and sophisticated manner, Dietrich was a natural for the femme fatale roles.  Challenging the more traditional notions of femininity, she often wore pants and more masculine fashion on and off the screen.  This appearance only added to her mystic with her fans and created new fashion trends.  After a highly successful film career, Dietrich gave up performing in the mid 1970’s and lived out the remainder of her life in near seclusion through the 1980’s.