"She grew skilled at caring for her mother’s costumes and props, at stamping her autograph on publicity photos, and at staying quiet on set."

"Dietrich’s costume designer made her a special uniform and gave her a title: 'attendant to Miss Marlene.' For years, she thought 'Maria Daughter of Marlene Dietrich' was her proper name; she was also never quite sure of her age, which changed as often as that of her mother, who regularly shaved off the years.... 'Dietrich was the queen.... My father was her major-domo, her lovers were her suitors, and I was the lady in waiting. I didn’t think it was strange; I had nothing to compare it to.' No school meant no companions her own age.... When she was about 12, she had her first encounter with actual children, an invitation to Judy Garland’s birthday party. She was terrified: What did real children do together? She and Judy huddled on the porch and bonded over their strange, caged existence...."

From "Maria Riva, Dietrich Daughter Who Demystified the Legend, Dies at 100 She was her mother’s handmaiden and aide-de-camp. In 1993, her blockbuster biography told of the awful price she paid" (NYT).

"Dietrich’s sexual adventures were the stuff of legend — from Gen. George S. Patton to Colette to Adlai Stevenson — with a cast that expanded through the decades.... John Wayne, with whom Dietrich starred in three films in the early 1940s, was an outlier, seemingly impervious to her charms. Years later, he told Ms. Riva, who asked him why he didn’t succumb: 'Never liked being part of a stable.'... Despite all the action, Dietrich was not a fan of the act itself. At least not with men. She preferred fellatio, or, better, impotent men. 'They are nice,' she told her daughter. 'You can sleep and it’s cozy.'"