Original Photograph on stage at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, 1955.

Original doubleweight William Claxton photograph of the iconic singer and actress on stage during a performance at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, 1955.  Dietrich is shown wearing one of several "nude" gowns custom designed for her by designer Jean Louis.  Typical photographer's stamp to verso, together with a stamp denoting that this particular print was Claxton's "Private Copy."  In very fine condition.  10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.3 cm.).

When Dietrich started performing her cabaret act in 1953, she commissioned the first in a series of gowns from Jean Louis that would serve as her outfit during the opening act of each performance.  "Built over a precisely engineered undergarment, and constructed of the thinnest, flesh-colored silk souffle and usually covered in strategically placed beading, [these dresses] provided both the illusion of a flawless, ageless figure, and an ephemeral but glitteringly sensual glamour."  ("Dietrich in Vegas," Gods and Foolish Grandeur)

"Teaching control over the camera to Marlene Dietrich would be like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, as Claxton learned when he showed up early at her Las Vegas dressingroom in 1955.  The thin, elderly woman he encountered, with just a wisp of hair on her head, looked more like his Russian grandmother than the Blue Angel diva.  'You must be the photographer,' said the old woman, the off-stage Dietrich.  'Put the camera away and come and sit down next to me.'  She gave him a cup of tea and, as he sipped, pointed out every wrinkle and tugged every fold of sagging skin she didn’t want photographed.  As she talked she put on her make-up, her costume and, finally, her carefully combed wig.  She turned to face him, tightly wrapped in her Marlene Dietrich packaging, and said: 'Now you may take pictures.'  'I just melted and started snapping,' remembers Claxton.  'Dietrich had a fantastic individualistic understanding of what the camera could do.'" ("When Claxton Clicks," The Irish Times)

From the collection of Paul McMahon, a critic, photographer and artist who worked for more than 13 years touring with Marlene Dietrich as the icon’s stage manager, announcer, dresser, secretary and escort, and later spent 25 years as an arts and entertainment reviewer and photographer with Gay Community News, Esplanade, Tommy’s Connection, The Mirror, Bay Windows and other publications. (21058)

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Theater

Film

Dance

Unsigned Photo/Portrait

Unsigned Photo

Unsigned Photograph

$1,200.00

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