Marlene Dietrich blurred all boundaries and checked all of the boxes. In Josef von Sternberg s
Morocco (1930) she appeared onstage in a top hat and tails; during a performance she asks a woman for the flower in her hair, kisses her, and throws the flower to Gary Cooper. She was nominated for an Academy Award in the film in which she cross-dressed and implied bisexuality; not a bad start for her first film in America.
The opportunity to see her in person came 23 years after that film. In 1953 the Sahara Las Vegas offered her $30,000 per week to perform (over $292,000 per week today). And so her career as a cabaret singer was born.