Luise Rainer

From Grokipedia

Luise Rainer (January 12, 1910 – December 30, 2014) was a German-born American actress who rose to prominence in Hollywood during the 1930s, becoming the first performer to win consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actress for her roles as Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and O-Lan in The Good Earth (1937). Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, to an upper-class Jewish family—her father, Heinz Rainer, was a German-American businessman, and her mother, Emmy, was a pianist—Rainer began her career in Europe as a stage actress under director Max Reinhardt, performing in Vienna and Berlin in works by playwrights such as Luigi Pirandello and George Bernard Shaw before making her film debut in German-language productions.

Discovered by an MGM talent scout in Vienna in 1934, Rainer signed a contract and arrived in Hollywood in 1935, where she quickly adapted to English-speaking roles despite initial language barriers, debuting in Escapade opposite William Powell. Her breakthrough came with The Great Ziegfeld, where her poignant telephone scene as the heartbroken Anna Held earned her the 1937 Oscar, followed by the 1938 award for her stoic portrayal of a Chinese peasant in The Good Earth, adapted from Pearl S. Buck's novel. However, despite her rapid success, Rainer clashed with MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer over typecasting and creative control, leading her to leave Hollywood at the height of her fame after just a few years, a decision she later attributed to the industry's pressures.

In her later life, Rainer married playwright Clifford Odets in 1937 (divorcing in 1940) and later publisher Robert Knittel in 1945, with whom she had a daughter, Francesca; the family lived in Switzerland before settling in London, where she pursued occasional stage work, such as in Maxwell Anderson's Joan of Lorraine, and television appearances, including a guest role on The Love Boat. She made a rare film return in her 80s with a role in The Gambler (1997), directed by her daughter, and remained active in social circles, befriending figures like Albert Einstein during her Hollywood years. Rainer died of pneumonia at her home in London at age 104, having been the oldest living Academy Award winner until her death.

In brief

Luise Rainer ( RY-nər, German: [ˈʁaɪnɐ]; 12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German-born film actress. She was the first thespian to win multiple Academy Awards, and the first to win back-to-back; at the time of her death, thirteen days shy of her 105th birthday, she was the longest-lived Oscar recipient (and the longest-lived female star from Classic Hollywood), a superlative that has not been exceeded, as of 2026. Rainer started her acting career in Germany at age 16, under the tutelage of Austria's leading stage director, Max Reinhardt.

Within a few years, she had become a distinguished Berlin stage actress with Reinhardt's Vienna theater ensemble. Critics highly praised the quality of her acting. After years of acting on stage and in films in Austria and Germany, she was discovered by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scouts, who signed her to a three-year contract in Hollywood in 1935.