Dita Parlo

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German actress (1908–1971)

title: "Dita Parlo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1908-births", "1971-deaths", "20th-century-german-actresses", "actresses-from-szczecin", "german-film-actresses", "german-silent-film-actresses", "actors-from-the-province-of-pomerania", "german-expatriate-actresses-in-the-united-states"] description: "German actress (1908–1971)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dita_Parlo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German actress (1908–1971) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
imageDita Parlo Binder.jpg
captionPhoto by Alexander Binder, 1928
nameDita Parlo
birth_date4 September 1908
birth_placeStettin, Pomerania, German Empire (present-day Szczecin, Poland)
death_date12 December 1971 (aged 63)
death_placeParis, France
birthnameGrethe Gerda Kornstädt or Gerda Olga Justine Kornstädt
occupationActress
yearsactive1928–1965
spouse
::

|image = Dita Parlo Binder.jpg |imagesize = | caption = Photo by Alexander Binder, 1928 | name = Dita Parlo | birth_date = 4 September 1908 | birth_place = Stettin, Pomerania, German Empire (present-day Szczecin, Poland) | death_date = 12 December 1971 (aged 63) | death_place = Paris, France | birthname = Grethe Gerda Kornstädt or Gerda Olga Justine Kornstädt | occupation = Actress | yearsactive = 1928–1965 | spouse =

Dita Parlo (born Grethe Gerda Kornstädt or Gerda Olga Justine Kornstädt; 4 September 1908 – 12 December 1971) was a German film actress.

Early life and career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Dita_Parlo_Fryer31.jpg" caption="Parlo in 1931"] ::

Dita Parlo was born on 4 September 1908 in Stettin, Pomerania, then in the German Empire. Sources differ as to whether her birth name was Grethe Gerda Kornstädt or Gerda Olga Justine Kornstädt. Her birth year is also sometimes listed as being 1906.

Parlo made her first film appearance in Homecoming (Heimkehr) in 1928 and quickly became a popular actress in Germany. During the 1930s she moved easily between German and French films, achieving success in several films, including, in the span of four years, two that are considered among the greatest in cinema history: L'Atalante (1934) and La Grande Illusion (1937).

Parlo attempted to establish a career in American films but despite a couple of roles in Hollywood films, was unable to extend her European success. In the late 1930s, she was scheduled to appear in the Orson Welles production of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for RKO Radio Pictures, but the project was abandoned.

She was deported to Germany as an enemy alien during World War II, but returned to France in 1949. She made only two films after the war, Justice is Done (1950) and her final screen appearance in La Dame de pique (1965).

Personal life and death

In 1949, she married a Protestant pastor, Franck Gueutal, with whom she remained until her death. She died on 12 December 1971 in Paris, France, although some sources list her death date as 13 December. She is buried at Cimetière Protestant de Montécheroux.

In popular culture

Musician Steve Adey has a song called "Dita Parlo" on his 2012 studio album The Tower of Silence. The song was written in response to Jean Vigo's 1934 film L'Atalante. Parlo was referenced by Madonna, who said she had been fascinated by Parlo, and took her name for the character she created for her Sex book and Erotica album. Its title track commences with the line "My name is Dita, I'll be your mistress tonight..." Burlesque performer Dita Von Teese took her name in tribute to Parlo.

Filmography

References

References

  1. (25 September 2017). "A Chronology of the Cinema Volume 1 from the pioneers to 1960".
  2. (19 August 2016). "Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed".
  3. [http://www.szczecin.ap.gov.pl/media/arch/65/1388/0/01/98/65_1388_0_01_98_0540.jpg Birth certificate of Dita Parlo at ''Staatsarchiv Stettin'']; accessed 13 September 2016.{{in lang. de.
  4. (November 2016). "Werke".
  5. "Parlo, Dita (1906–1971) | Encyclopedia.com".
  6. (2 October 2015). "Madonna as Postmodern Myth: How One Star's Self-Construction Rewrites Sex, Gender, Hollywood and the American Dream".
  7. "Odisseja Peter'a Pringsheim'a".
  8. (November 2013). "In Search of la Grande Illusion: A Critical Appreciation of Jean Renoir's Elusive Masterpiece".
  9. Katz, Ephraim. (1980). "The International Film Encyclopedia". Macmillan.
  10. (16 March 2016). "Mémoires".
  11. Katherine Nguyen. "Dita Von Teese: Call her old-fashioned". ocregister.com.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1908-births1971-deaths20th-century-german-actressesactresses-from-szczecingerman-film-actressesgerman-silent-film-actressesactors-from-the-province-of-pomeraniagerman-expatriate-actresses-in-the-united-states