Joined Max Reinhardt's theater company in Berlin after WWI and appeared in numerous silent films from 1921. Dieterle began directing two years later, starring in many of his own features, including his first, 1923's "Der Mensch am Wege". (His costar--in her debut leading role--was Marlene Dietrich.)

Dieterle moved to Hollywood in 1930, working for Warner Bros. for a decade and starting out with a stunning series of medium scale "A" films and plenty of fine programmers. Indeed, although he made more "important" films later, some historians rate Dieterle's finest period as between 1931 and 1934.