Marlene Dietrich got a special honor Wednesday with her very own Google Doodle.
An illustration of the legendary actress and singer appeared at the top of Google’s homepage Dec. 27, which would have been her 116th birthday.
No doubt Dietrich, who died in 1992 at age 90, continues to be an influential figure in Hollywood. The German-born star’s willingness to challenge gender norms with her affinity for man-tailored suits at a time when it was taboo for women to wear trousers has inspired pop singer Madonna and actress Jessica Lange.
That boundary-pushing style has, of course, resounded beyond the A-list crowd. Drag icon Sasha Velour memorably referenced Dietrich, whose classic films include 1930′s “The Blue Angel” and 1932′s “Shanghai Express,” on the ninth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” this year.
So it’s only fitting that Velour, who is also known as New York-based artist Sasha Steinberg, was tapped to create Wednesday’s Google Doodle.
Velour, who won the ninth season of “Drag Race,” praised Dietrich as a “wild original” who has been a major inspiration to her drag alter ego.
“Despite the pressures of the time, she followed her own course, especially in terms of politics and gender,” Velour told Google. “As a drag queen, that’s particularly inspiring to me.”
Watch Velour get done up as Dietrich below.
“Plus, she just had this power to her,” she added. “In every role she’s mysterious and strong, brilliant. That’s what I aspire to be when I step on the stage.”
No doubt Dietrich would be proud to see her exploration of gender passed down to an entirely new generation. Well done, Sasha!
