Dish from Dietrich's Daughter: Maria Riva, Daughter of Marlene Dietrich, Addresses Those Lesbian Rumors about Her Mother-As a New Book and a TV Documentary Celebrate the Star's 100th Birthday. (Books)

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Ah, Marlene Dietrich. Her beauty was considerable, but her go-to-hell spirit is the real reason why, 100 years after her birth, she's still equally cherished by lesbians and gay men. This November her fans had a chance to fall in love yet again, with Marlene Dietrich: Photographs and Memories (Knopf, $40), brimming with photos and mementos, including a letter from Dietrich's long-rumored lesbian lover, screenwriter Mercedes de Acosta.

Much of the text was supplied by Dietrich's daughter, Maria Riva. In an E-mail interview with The Advocate--her first ever with the gay press--Riva declined to confirm the legends about Dietrich's bisexual adventures. But she parried our …