Maria Riva

Maria Elisabeth Riva (née Sieber; born December 13, 1924) is a German-born American former actress. She worked on television at CBS in the 1950s, becoming one of the first stars of early kinescope-era television. She is the daughter of actress Marlene Dietrich, about whom she published a memoir in 1992. Maria Elisabeth Sieber was born in Berlin, the only child of actress Marlene Dietrich and assistant film director Rudolf Sieber (and later Paramount Pictures director of dubbing, Paris, France). In 1930, at age five, she moved with her mother to Los Angeles, California. She spent most of her time at home, on the Paramount Studios lot, and in the company of her mother's friends. In 1934, aged nine, she had a small role in Josef von Sternberg's film The Scarlet Empress, based on the life of Catherine the Great, in which she played Catherine as a child. As no young actress could be found who resembled her mother, she was given the part. In her scenes in the film she was filmed in bed, as she was much older in real life than the character she played. She was also an extra in the 1936 David O. Selznick production, The Garden of Allah. In order for Dietrich to keep her daughter close to her, Riva was not permitted to attend school; instead she had governesses who saw to her education. Her mother relented in the late 1930s, allowing her to attend Brillantmont International School in Switzerland. During her time at Brillantmont, her roommate was actress Gene Tierney. During her childhood, she would often join the Kennedy family on vacation along with her mother. Despite the six-year age difference between the two, she became good friends with Rosemary Kennedy, saying of their friendship, "Perhaps being two misfits, we felt comfortable in each other's company". In her biography about her mother, she describes the childhood conditions and effects of a rape at age thirteen by a nanny. She wrote, "In some ways I was trained for rape. Always obedient, always trying to please those in charge of me.