Maria Riva, née Sieber; born 13 December 1924, is an American actress, film historian, biographer, and activist.
Background
She is the daughter of the actress Marlene Dietrich, about whom she wrote a memoir, which was published in 1992. Maria Elisabeth Sieber was born in Berlin, the only child of actress Marlene Dietrich and film production assistant Rudolf Sieber (and later Paramount Pictures director of dubbing, Paris, France). In 1930, at age six, she moved with her mother to Los Angeles, California.
Career
She worked on television at Columbia Broadcasting System in the 1950s, becoming one of the first stars of early kinescope-era television 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. She was also an extra in the 1936 David O Selznick production, The Garden of Allah.
Acting career Riva received acting training and during the Second World War entertained Allied troops in Europe for the United Service Organizations from 1945-1946, stationed in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
She also acted in theatre and summer stock, including a production of Tea and Sympathy. She appeared at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway in the 1954 production The Burning Glass, opposite Cedric Hardwicke and Walter Matthau.
A brief marriage to Dean Goodman—whom she married in 1943—ended in divorce. Then she married scenic designer William Riva in 1947.
They had four sons. Her second son, Peter Riva, president and owner of International Transactions, Incorporated., is her literary agent.
During the 1950s, Riva appeared in more than 500 live teleplays for Columbia Broadcasting System, all broadcast from New York, including The Milton Berle Show, Lux Video Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Your Show of Shows and Studio One. She received Emmy nominations as best actress in both 1952 and 1953. Riva semi-retired from acting in the mid-50s, but made a cameo appearance as Mistress
Rhinelander in Bill Murray"s Scrooged.
In 2001, she was interviewed for Her Own Song, a documentary about her mother.