An extraordinary relic from the film and stage icon: a pill bottle formerly holding the film icon's sleeping pills. Schwab's Pharmacy, Beverly Hills, CA 4/6/71.  From the collection of Marlene Dietrich, then to Paul McMahon, a critic, photographer and artist who worked for more than 13 years touring with her as the icon’s stage manager, announcer, dresser, secretary and escort. Sold together with a letter of provenance from the husband of Paul McMahon, Ralph Hodgdon. NB: THOUGH PICTURED, NO PILLS OF ANY KIND ARE INCLUDED IN THE SALE OF THIS ITEM.

Secobarbital, sold under the brand name Seconal among others, is a short-acting barbiturate drug originally used for the treatment of insomnia.

Dietrich was still performing onstage in 1975 when the sad pantomime’s final act began: She fell into an orchestra pit in Sydney and broke her femur. She retired to her Paris apartment, and would leave it only a few times over the next seventeen years. She absolutely refused to be photographed, her old body a thing of shame to her. Younger stars such as Madonna—who idolized Dietrich and has followed much of her sad trajectory—tried to visit but were refused admittance. So were her friends: She would talk to them on the phone only. She was bed-ridden, addicted to drugs, drinking half a bottle of scotch a day.