Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Spies on the Side

The FBI Believed Actress Marlene Dietrich was a Nazi Spy

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Photo by Don English/John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

FBI files revealed in 2002 that German actress Marlene Dietrich was long believed to be a spy who left Nazi Germany to expand her film career in the United States. She became an American citizen in 1939 and renounced her German citizenship. FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover was suspicious of the star, and his agents followed her every move. The agency was unable to substantiate suspicions that she was a Nazi spy. In 1944, Dietrich agreed to gather intelligence for America. While entertaining U.S. troops she also participated in “collecting observations about subversive activities in Europe.” Unfortunately, some of her FBI files were destroyed in 1980, so it’s unclear what specific information she contributed to the American cause.

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