Last Updated on 3 hours by Vijay Kumar
Maria Elisabeth Riva (née Sieber), the American actress, television pioneer, author, and daughter of legendary Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich, passed away in her sleep on October 29, 2025, at her son’s home in Gila, New Mexico. She was 100 years old and died just weeks before what would have been her 101st birthday, her son Peter Riva told The Hollywood Reporter.
She worked as an actress
Born on December 13, 1924, in Berlin, Riva grew up around world cinema and Hollywood glamour as the only child of Marlene Dietrich and film assistant director Rudolf Sieber. She made her screen debut as a child in the 1934 film The Scarlet Empress, portraying the younger version of her mother’s character. In the 1950s, she became one of the most prominent faces of early live American television, appearing in hundreds of live CBS teleplays and earning multiple Emmy nominations. Later in life, Riva became an accomplished author, best known for her acclaimed biography of her mother published in 1992, as well as her historical novel You Were There Before My Eyes released in 2017.
She is survived by her three sons — J. Paul Riva, Peter Riva, and David Riva — along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her son, Oscar-winning production designer J. Michael Riva, predeceased her in 2012. Maria Riva leaves behind a legacy that bridges the golden age of Hollywood, the birth of live television, and a literary contribution preserving one of cinema’s greatest histories.
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