KUDOS

Dietrich Honored by French: Marlene Dietrich, the legendary German-born actress, singer and sex symbol, has been awarded one of France’s highest honors at age 88. In a list of 1989 distinctions published this week, she was promoted from the rank of Officer of the Legion d’Honneur, which she received in 1971, to Commander of the Legion d’Honneur, the third-highest French award. Now a recluse who lives in an apartment off the Champs Elysees, Dietrich for more than half a century epitomized glamour and sex appeal. She won fame in Josef von Sternberg’s “The Blue Angel,” featuring her husky rendition of “Falling in Love Again.” She took American citizenship in 1937 but in the 1960s spoke of her feelings for Europe: “When I die, I’d like to be buried in Paris. But I’d also like to leave my heart in England, and in Germany--nothing.”