On 7 July 1955, legendary actress Marlene Dietrich flew into Blackpool to perform two shows at the Opera House. Shortly after her arrival at Squires Gate Airport, she requested a tour of the town and was photographed in front of the iconic Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. However, this wasn’t her first visit to the town; Dietrich had been there two decades earlier, in the summer of 1934, when she experienced an amusing and somewhat frustrating incident—she lost an antique pearl earring while visiting the Pleasure Beach. Interestingly, more than 70 years later in 2007, a construction team draining the lake in preparation for the installation of a new ride, Infusion, uncovered a collection of lost items at the bottom of the old Log Flume lake. Among the strange collection—false teeth, a glass eye, a bra, a toupee, and £85 in loose change—was Dietrich’s missing pearl earring. It was immediately taken to Michael Hyman at Leonard Dews Jewellers, a jeweller in Blackpool, for assessment. The discovery was an unexpected and sentimental moment, reconnecting the star with her past in Blackpool.
In 1934, Blackpool was at the peak of its popularity as a seaside resort, with thousands of visitors, many from nearby mill towns, flocking to the area for their annual holidays. It was during this golden era of British seaside tourism that Leonard Thompson, the manager of Pleasure Beach, persuaded Dietrich to visit the town. She toured the resort, enjoyed a ride on the Big Dipper, witnessed the famous illuminations, and then departed, unaware of the earring that had fallen from her ear during her visit. By 1934, Dietrich had already starred in some of the most celebrated films of her career, including The Blue Angel, Morocco, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, and The Scarlet Empress. Though Blackpool was still a thriving destination for British holidaymakers, it was a far cry from the modern tourist mecca it would become with the advent of affordable air travel in later years. The connection between Dietrich, Blackpool, and the lost earring added a quirky and lasting chapter to the actress’s history with the town.
