Marlene Dietrich's daughter, Maria Riva, speaking at the William J. Donovan Award® Dinner

[@fran_1978]

Love Maria. After reading her magnificent book on her mother is impossible not to feel a friend of hers a little bit. She was nearly 90 in this video! Such an amazing, clear mind she has!

[@paulnedza920]

If you read the book, you know that Maria was the real legend.HER words helped countless victims of abuse not only survive but TRIUMPH! She gave real love and talent to what has become three generations. Thank You Maria.

[@britannia5370]

You are regretfully totally misinformed

[@britannia5370]

Who the he'll needs a daughter like that?

[@southernpilot]

La Verité in what way?

[@JohnEngels1]

If you'd actually read the book you'd know she was incapable of love.

[@gregrak9389]

Maria Riva is one very classy lady, articulate, very well spoken, enjoy listening to her speak on any subject, thanks for uploading!

[@danzbutrfly]

The apple doesnt fall far from the tree....and so was her mother Marlene Dietrich.

[@jimrick6632]

WHEN WAS THIS DONE???

[@britannia5370]

You are most definitely and totally misinformed, read Alice Schwatzer"s comment, Gesine Bauer's book.. then judge....Have you read Riva's junk book???

[@britannia5370]

Classy?????? Would you like your daughter writing a book like she did, despite having profited ALL her life?

[@karlacoria4370]

First time I ever listen to Maria. I’m very impressed at what a good public speaker she is. Amazing lady Maria. She brought me to tears. As an immigrant my self!!! I have to say I fully understand what she means by America being precious !!!

[@JerseySurvivor]

What words! Great to see Maria doing well so recently. Met her once years ago. Great Lady, no pretense. Down to earth. Like her mother.

[@britannia5370]

Why is she so ugly in looks AND character? Never came close to her mother.....third class

[@JohnEngels1]

Her mother was earthy but not down to earth.

[@sxnico]

i love her voice. I love her brain. shes tremendous.

[@ed3432]

Remarkable woman. Courage and intelligence personified. Mother and daughter true patriots.Mother may she rest in peace.

[@stephanierank6528]

My husband and I attended he Galla when Ms. Riva spoke that night.... She left a profound impression on the both of us and feel most grateful to have been able to be apart of the OSS dinner where she spoke about the much deserved honor her mother received that night.

[@paxetbonum8558]

Maria here gave a beautiful speech. Such an intelligent and brilliant woman, if her parents took more interest in her, she would of been a great diplomat.

[@laurapavone3513]

This is a narcissistic thought of yours filled with regret.

[@paxetbonum8558]

Hey Italian. I understand you have a problem with your coloured heritage. Please don't take your grudge, out on me. Learn to love yourself and others. And don't judge.

[@andyvanm1]

Its nice to hear Maria say nice things about her Mother ,thank you

[@SenorZorrozzz]

When she was young she was strikingly beautiful in her own right. She was a very accomplished and active actress. Here, you can see the beauty of an aged woman. She wrote a much criticized bio about her mother. But she wrote the truth as she "lived within it. " She does honor her mother.

[@117ralph]

yes! well said.

[@britannia5370]

She NEVER came close to her mother's fame, beauty, class and bravery

[@sweetblanche9442]

How can you compare her with Dietrich? lmao

[@brittalbach416]

but we are supposed to honor mother and father. I never liked her for putting Marlene down after her death all the time. Did she not profit greatly from her mother's fame and money ? And besides the "truth" is no excuse for ev.thing. Some things should remain private; if you sully your nest, you sully yourself. Could it be jealousy of her mom ?

[@sweetblanche9442]

@@brittalbach416 Exactly my thought! She made money from selling that crappy book.

[@MonsieurHonnorat]

wow…..she knows how a story should be told

[@EAB82]

A Marlene biopic would be such a tale to tell..

[@Bluejeans0701]

"If you have international fame, real international fame, and you do something with it as a weapon against evil." No wonder Marlene Dietrich still remains a legend. Ms. Riva surely gets her mother's beauty and class.

[@piustwelfth]

If you haven't seen it, you should watch the documentary Hear My Song about Marlene Dietrich's heroic activity during WWII. Whatever her faults, Ms. Dietrich was a brave heroine in the fight against her own homeland.

[@blueheaven2135]

Pius Twelvetrees Marlene wasnt against Germany,she was against Natzies

[@MADEbySOUL]

Actually, Riva claims that Dietrich allowed her to be raped by a woman. Goes even further saying she along with Dietrich's husband made Dietrich's mistress so depressed she died. (kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWe4imiDrM2hmKM) I find amazing that Riva is able to see the good and bad of her mother with no fear.

[@britannia5370]

I don't see any class or beauty in Riva, she is a disgrace, she should go home and show some decency

[@pandaman-hz1wp]

@@britannia5370 you're ridiculous

[@maryjorico3009]

Encore she knows what we all feel when we come here. Those feelings are in peril in 2018.

[@JSB1882]

Wow! If this was recorded around 2013 Maria Riva was 90 in this.

[@BuckyBrown-lt4ry]

Far more superior than her mom in most every way. In her day, more sex appeal as well. Her mom was too plastic and unnatural(in more ways than one).

[@ulrichlehnhardt4293]

She is a brilliant performer. She touches people. Great!

[@philipdraper7284]

I’m reading her biography on Dietrich now. What an excellent read. I have read all the “Hollywood children tell alls” for the most part but this biography by Riva so far has neither the hate element of “Mommie Dearest” nor the bitterness of “My Mother’s Keeper”. Maria Riva writes openly, honestly, and objectively on many occasions about her mother whom you could tell she found difficult to understand. It reads like a dramatic novel interlaced with comedies of error and unspoken, private heartaches and longings for normalcy. It ultimately made me quite disillusioned by the Dietrich image, insofar that it was totally and completely cultivated, rigidly curated, and belligerently enforced/codified, no matter what casualties were in the blast radius of Marlene’s iron will and lack of flexibility. Ultimately it is a sad book but one worthy of film admirers.

[@piustwelfth]

It was the same with many big movie stars of the era. At least Dietrich had redeeming qualities like her heroism during WWII.

[@63LAURIE]

Very eloquent. Nice to hear her being so nice about her mother.

[@vicenterosales1226]

Nice?

[@rodolfoayalajr.8589]

Emotional 😭 speech. Beautiful 🤩. Amen 🙏.

[@jasonday9286]

What recollections! What a life. Take a bow Ms. Riva.

[@XX-gy7ue]

boy , can she tell a story ! and what a story she has to tell ! - without crying , I'm crying from the restrained drama of it all !

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

El documental, con su música encantadora, era demasiado breve, informativo aún del período más trágico en la historia americana. Gracias, Isabel, por traer esta hermosura con una historia inoportuna a la atención del mundo. ¡Vaya con la virgen!

[@velvetclaw2316]

She is a mesmerising speaker

[@v6200man]

What a speech - her mother would have been impressed I feel

[@BuckyBrown-lt4ry]

Her mom couldn't touch her.

[@LittleImpaler]

No, her mom was a bitch to her.

[@sterling1386]

Her mother was only impressed with herself.

[@ellaisa7698]

@@sterling1386 Apparently you know Marlene Dietrich personally..

[@sterling1386]

@@ellaisa7698 Read the book.

[@w.o.silvera2142]

What a honor 'thank you for sharing this' ! 🌹🇺🇸

[@vlaad4444]

I like that speach very much, that lady is so brilliant and unique, very intelligent.

[@LaurelDenver]

"For those of you have never experienced it, America... The freedom of this country.... is never more apparent or more precious than when you flee and need her to house you. There is a strength in our country. I am a naturalized citizen. It's a feeling that you never get over. You belong. You have made your roots, and yet you are always looking over your shoulder. And you always have to remember what it took to be able to say, I am a citizen of these United States." Amazing words. Wonder if those in the room clapping, would feel that way today toward the Syrian refugees. Fact is, we must. It's so important to listen to her words.

[@prairiewolfedogg]

+Laurel Denver Nope, the economic refugees flooding the Western world are of a different culture (read: not European Christian) that hates benevolent foreign host countries to which they flee.

[@Handiman544]

America has no problems with "legal" immigration. A country cannot flood it's boundaries with millions of people without knowing what is coming. Sovereign nations have borders...all countries. They need to be protected and honored; otherwise you have no country.

[@CionnFE]

Laurel Denver ‘looking over your shoulder’ because now the US has taken a menacing, inward looking paranoid turn and may yet revoke some people’s rights to be citizens; forgetting that the US was forged by people fleeing oppression, who stole land from the indigenous people, enslaved Africans; and now act like they are the First Nation. Shame on Trump and all those thieving, treachourous neo cons. They are destroying the dream with selfish greed, dressed up as Christian values. Christ would vomit if he were present! So, keep looking over your shoulder.....you might be next to be called unamerican, like the Mexican-americans, are now!

[@ms.middlefinger9222]

This is not the same America for alot of us. It's 2021 and I'm ready to leave it.

[@musicaltheatrepianotube1255]

I once had the pleasure of meeting Maria briefly when I was working in the West End. It's awkward to tell a daughter it's their mother you admire, but as Maria says here what sets Marlene apart is her willingness to use her fame to stand against evil, so I couldn't not!

[@kevinmasters6438]

I'm sure she's used to it. Plus, how to put this nicely, she lives off her mother's legacy.

[@laurapavone3513]

​@@kevinmasters6438Isn't it true for all our mothers and daughters?

[@UNOwen1]

Ms. Riva spoke eloquently about a time & people that have such a strong resonance - now. Sadly, more than ever-so.

[@piustwelfth]

Mrs. Riva's view of her mother softened over the years after Marlene Dietrich's death. It's unfortunate that Riva did not wait a few years until she wrote the bio of her mother.

[@mjcard]

Pius Twelvetrees I too like many also had an extreme Narcissistic mother. Five years ago she died and now I am able to recall her best features and enjoy some distance from the torture and demeaning onslaught of these kinds of mothers. Both aspects are true and one doesn't negate the other. It takes a lot of time and effort to breathe and live after their oppressive influence.

[@khanbibi]

Maria Riva told the truth

[@piustwelfth]

@@khanbibi Which version is the 'truth'? She changed her tune since her book was published.

[@laurapavone3513]

​@@piustwelfthyou seem not to see her.

[@piustwelfth]

@@laurapavone3513 Are you referring to Dietrich or her daughter? FYI, if you read Mrs. Riva's biography of her mother and then watch this video, you'll be aware of a rather astounding change of heart.

[@anitaadvani8464]

Wow! That was one powerful speech! I am awestruck.

[@felix121984]

+Anita Zenobia She is amazing, can't believe she is 89 years old in this video !!

[@SWDetboy]

What A Lady,,CLASS CLASS CLASS,, I hope her mother see's her proudly.

[@khanbibi]

I read Maria riva‘s book she has written about her mother it is an amazing read

[@carryall69]

wow.. what a speech..

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

Though I miss all of them, I miss Dietrich the most. I've just finished watching her in a Western with co-star Arthur Kennedy (his best work, I might add). There's no part of her you like the most. No, you accept the total package, the register of her voice, the swagger (better than John Wayne's), the persona. In other words, the works! I possess a limited collection of the songs most associated with her and listen as often as possible. She's just one I'll never forget, ever. I might add this digress, and it's about Eartha Kitt. If I don't miss my guess Dietrich was Kitt's influence, the unusual repertory of songs, the deep register, plus tremolo, the unconventional public behavior, even Kitt's adopted "Europeaness." Both Dietrich and Kitt share in common non hit parade songs, leaning more to songs you can listen to over and again, just not mainstream. I'm sure Dietrich daughter has made sure that all her mother's effects and papers are turned over to the proper museums there in Germany for the yet unborn to admire.

[@kevinmasters6438]

Most were auctioned after her death (Dietrich kept everything) and are now in a museum in Berlin.

[@annc9660]

Maria is straight and raised a good family. How did she turn out so good having a mother like that. I wonder Why her mother spent her last years in Paris so far away from her beloved daughter and grandchildren? Who does that? Maria had her hands full with her.

[@susanscott4977]

ann c who are you to judge someone else’s life.? No one knows all the truth behind another person’s actions.

[@mjcard]

Susan Scott Maria wrote a book about her mother as a mother and it's not pretty.

[@00lys00]

Thank you for posting this video. Interesting to hear Maria Riva and her recollections of war and family.

[@nicholasnighswander4636]

Beautiful sentiment.

[@semsemeini7905]

Fascinating.

[@sequinrosette]

That was terrific! I've read Maria's book and I recommend it.

[@paulsimpson4155]

love maria he'd stories wow ,!

[@rklight33]

Guadalupe Villascoaza While I'm no fan of the Kennedys, and it is a great irony that Maria Riva goes from speaking (quite rightly) of Neville Chamberlain's pacifist "fairytale" to expressing admiration for the biggest fairytale in American political history (the Kennedys), please, let's give Marlene her due. She was an immense patriot. She put her life on the line. She was at the Battle of the Bulge. Had the Germans broken through, she'd likely have been captured, and certainly executed. She was an incredibly brave woman. As for her loose personal life -- it was just that, personal. Quite unlike her purely exhibitionist imitators, e.g. Madonna. With respect to her public life she exuded class with, yes, often a strong element of the erotic. But it was the erotic mostly in the proper sense of erotic, that's to say with elegance pointing toward the beautiful.

[@CionnFE]

Kennedy fairytale???? Whatever they were; contrast them with the treacherous, self seeking Bushes; Nixon; and the zenith of parasitism, Trump! Sadly for the US, you shoot dead the visionaries, (Robert and John) however flawed as humans.....and exalt the self profiteering traitors like the Bushes and the laughing stock Trump. About Marlene, I agree, brave and principled. Yet after the war? Dumped by the US who used her as a propaganda tool and left her unable to get work after ‘45. History will judge these actions as betrayal and self defeating, long after our time!

[@MarleneXtreme2]

MARLENE FOREVER !!

[@jadezee6316]

as of today Maria Riva at 96 is still alive....

[@colinsandison-smith2506]

So inspiring. Maria Riva. What a great speaker. Really makes you remember what's great about the USA.

[@britannia5370]

Besides that she doesn't have much else to offer

[@piustwelfth]

She'll be 100 in Dec. 2024. Hope she makes it. Her mother was also long-lived. Dietrich lived to past age 90 which was remarkable considering she smoked like a chimney for most of her life.

[@crazybassman69]

so true about the refugee situation today! " America, the freedom of this country, is never more apparent, or more precious than when you flee and need her to house you!"

[@CionnFE]

And yet, at the end of WW2 after all of Marlene’s dedication and commitment, the US dispensed with her; she found it hard to get a role or work, and spent her time in Europe doing one woman shows etc. Much loved and admired. Shame on the post war US for their betrayal of her selfless dedication to anti totalitarianism

[@XX-gy7ue]

wow !

[@nawaldarwiche8270]

BEAUTIFUL ORD BEAUTIFUL PERSON 🌹 LOVE IS EVERY THINK YOU KAN BUT I CAN'T 😢 .

[@bgjandm]

My Father Eddie (Edwin) Garson was a ventriloquist who toured with Marlene for 6 years in Australia. Does anyone have info or video of him doing his act to warm the crowd for her? Eddie has passed away so anything would be appreciated!!

[@BRUTUALTRUTH]

Pure class and intelligence x

[@britannia5370]

What?????? Class and intelligence? Envy and hatred more like towards a mother, she can never match..Marlene would have been better off without this daughter

[@michaelserfort8128]

That's the question : Why has such a self confident and ambitious woman like Marlene Dietrich got a daughter ? Ms. Dietrich looked repellent and cool in my eyes...a difficult personality. The leopard can't change its spots...

[@alanellaway8066]

All records indicate that Marlene was a kind and vey generous woman. She was incredibly brave to criticize Hitler and her homeland Germany during the war, to the extent of suffering quite a lot of hardships o entertain the Allied forces. A wonderful and gifted actress an singer, and a legendary beauty. You did not live her life and those who criticize her morals, should mind their own business. As for Guadalupe Villascoaza, well, how can I put this tactfully,,,, "SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU JERK!"

[@AALavdas]

Wonderful speech! I am surprised that the people responsible for the sound did not have a pop filter (cover) on the microphone. It's elementary.

[@davidlevine7738]

Like her mother she is a great person. I always was blown away by her mother although there are three generations between us. A German friend says she's not remembered well there because she wore an American uniform but that uniform liberated her nation! I regret that when I was in Berlin I did not visit her grave and do the Jewish custom of leaving a stone as I did at Oscar Schindler's grave in Jerusalem.

[@nightwish1000]

Your German friend is wrong. Overall, Marlene is very well liked here, also because she never forgot that she was a German after all.

[@luvsgreta8487]

Wonderful speech.

[@TheTibmeisteToo]

A consummate performer

[@gioPHL]

Very moving, indeed.

[@stephanlang7526]

Great...

[@albertmarnell9976]

Maria Riva impresses me more than her mother. She is a great speaker and so compelling. My mother was born in Hamburg-Altona in 1921. She was brought to the U.S. in 1927 at age 6. Her father and mother lived through WW l and my Opa was in the army of the German Empire. They helped raise me on Long Island and sometimes my Opa would say to me "All Quiet on the Western Front". It was a privilege and luck to have lived so often with two WW l North Germans as a second set of parents. Oma was a character too, very loving to her two grandsons but my mother too had a problem with her mother. What is that all about? But she was a great cook! OMG! I had two grandparents from Palermo, Sicily also, but rarely saw them where they lived in Flushing, New York.

[@sarahburggraf861]

Strong patriot and very classy lady! Role model for women everywhere if you ask me.

[@jackchen7003]

Still alive 11 years later...

[@thesolitude]

That’s amazing❤

[@teeniebeenie8774]

impassioned speaker looove her

[@teeniebeenie8774]

I love her! to have been marlene's child,,,,,fascinating.

[@loromas63]

What a Lady!

[@arleenbetosbutner3381]

Is there a biography, autobiography or movie about Marlene Dietrich?

[@dhgemein2]

No movie, but numerous books. Apart from the various biographies, Maria Rivia, the lady speaking here, wrote a book about her mother. Marlene herself wrote a volume of memoirs, but I don't know if it's been published in English.

[@Tomfrost1997]

LOVE MARIA RIVA 🇧🇷

[@Themanwhocameback2]

Like her protector, Erich Remarque, she can tell a story, and note the martini. Remarque preferred wine, but gin might actually make a better raconteur.

[@djamelabourelem251]

Je ne comprends pas l anglais dommage cela devrait être sous titré en français.Merci

[@yvenhess-thema7293]

she Sounds like her mother

[@Rudipolt]

Aloha from Hawaii

[@subsloth3180]

I've Met Her

[@subsloth3180]

Danny Schwartz My Mom works for her she is living in Los Angeles Right Now

[@virginiaalvarez9651]

But she destroyed her Mother on her book !!!!!

[@ionteszter6840]

They did get the wine. And the women. For years.

[@XX-gy7ue]

🌟 MARLENE DIETRICH 🌟

[@exquisiteevents8317]

Far cry from the book where she destroys Marlene.

[@piustwelfth]

I made the same comment years ago, and I rec'd criticism. Glad to see someone agrees with me.

[@TheTibmeister]

TrippMacintyre Legends often have feet of clay

[@OreosTV]

There just one .its was one.its will be just one Marlene Dietrich... Oreos TV el canal de la belleza

[@wowok3720]

She hardly gets older, just like her mother

[@yasminx16]

An extremely classy woman

[@lenahroch]

Thank you Maria for your wonderful speech,my soul understands your message

[@rolanddepous2148]

MARLENE DIETRICH EN HILDEGARD KNEF GOLD WERELD VROUWEN KLASSE WUNDERBAR THANKS MERCI DANKE

[@helenemartin9535]

She is still alive (in february 2023) ! She is the daughter of an abusive mother and like many of those ex children did well of a poor situation.

[@antoniosucco4452]

A great lady

[@piustwelfth]

I wonder how much of the escaping France story is true. I think she embellishes a little.

[@AshMukherjeeOfficial]

Pius Twelvetrees she’s 90 she’s allowed. We all have a grandma or great aunt that does it. It’s lovely.

[@AshMukherjeeOfficial]

Andrew Heller If you were telling the truth you wouldn’t have to use profanities and yell...

[@AlejandroConcha]

tiene q haber sido un trauma para ella haber alentado a los soldados noreteamericanos contra los soldados alemanes, tremendo

[@michaelturman1397]

maybe if she is still a live does she still think that " of those United States" Marlene always thought acted and lived her life as a European, never as an a American and when she came back to Germany they called her Traitor, not because what she said about Hitler because she did not care for them the German people after the war. WIE EINST DIE LILLIE MARLENE, you sang that song all the time, but you must have forgotten what the words mean, I think her daughter was very jealous of her

[@yvonnemarais7671]

She was already a German when she left Berlin and then Paris and a German in Paris and then to USA so she was German arriving in USA via Paris. . !A German American,

[@Tomfrost1997]

Wonderful woman!

[@thisherecat4black397]

A strength in flip flops and five-dollar crap bread.

[@Josephv3848]

Madonna is the modern day Dietrich.

[@legenda33mevarlegenda61]

kaia

[@rhondareese3908]

Did Mariea have any children?

[@freshbeanne]

4 boys

[@vicenterosales1727]

Si.. cuatro hijos, muy bien criados con el dinero que su madre ganaba en su show en solitario.

[@rhondareese3908]

@@freshbeanne what about her daughter?

[@britannia5370]

Another good example when daughters are jealous of their mothers beauty and success, not having much of either themselves. All her life Riva profited and so did her kids and tingling around slandering your mother is just downright low and disgusting!

[@user-tc9po4mi7h]

Maria had success. She had a job she loved, husband and kids. And she cared about her mother a lot. And they had a very difficult relationships, a lot of people feel the same with their parents. It's life and it's much harder then it seems to be.

[@ericklynch6873]

Oh get real what success ??????? Her only role was Marlene Dietrich's daughter One which she and her family has lived on all their lives non entities without Marlene nothing !!! and then to dish up the dirt for profit shame

[@peterjaimez1619]

Sounds contrary to what I have been told, the French, as far as I know, believed in the Maginot Line, my grandmother was shocked when France feel, that defeatism is highly unlikely. Smashing priceless wine before a single shot was fired NO WAY, JOSE. Hindsight is always 20/20. Not lies but close, a woman who wants attention. Is what she tell in her book about her mother in need of using "grano salis" a bit of caution? Cheers

[@piustwelfth]

She greatly embellished the story about escaping France.

[@Legless_Orphan]

Marlene really was what we would consider a narrisict mother in the 21st century. We should love Maria because of Maria. She is eloquent and lived a life no child should have.

[@MarieFirst]

Indeed she is eloquent, intelligent and beautiful. I like Maria Riva more than Marlene. It's not easy to be the daughter of such a woman.

[@trippmcintyre2347]

And I mean you....Guadalupe!!!!

[@flowerchild226]

never knew marlene had a daughter

[@snootybaronet]

She's got no problem with the biggest American appeaser....Old Joe Kennedy.