Luise Rainer is a German film actress, the first woman to win two Academy Awards, and the first person to win them back to back. She was born in Düsseldorf, Germany on January 12, 1910.
She was discovered by MGM talent scouts while acting on stage in Austria and Germany and after appearing in Austrian films.
Her training began in Germany from the age of 16 by leading stage director Max Reinhardt. After a few years, she became recognized as a "distinguished Berlin stage actress", acting with Reinhardt's Vienna theater ensemble. Critics "raved" at her stage and film acting quality, leading MGM to sign her to a three-year contract and bring her to Hollywood in 1935. A number of filmmakers anticipated she might become another Greta Garbo, MGM's leading female star.
Her first American role was in the film Escapade (1935), which was soon followed with a relatively small part in the musical biopic The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Despite her limited appearances in the film, she "so impressed audiences" that she won the Oscar for Best Actress. For her dramatic telephone scene in the film, she was later dubbed "the Viennese teardrop". In her next role, producer Irving Thalberg was convinced, despite the studio's disagreement, that she could play the part of a poor uncomely Chinese peasant in The Good Earth (1937), based on Pearl Buck's novel about hardship in China. The subdued character she played was such a dramatic contrast to her previous, vivacious character, that she won another Academy Award, even with Greta Garbo as one of the nominees.
However, she would later remark that by winning two consecutive Oscars, "nothing worse could have happened to me", as audience expectations from then on would be too high to fulfill. She was then given parts in a string of unimportant movies, leading MGM and Rainer to became disappointed, and she ended her brief 3-year career in films, soon returning to Europe.
She was once married to playwright Clifford Odets. Her second husband was Robert Knittel, a publisher, to whom she was married for 47 years (until his death). Rainer and Knittel had one daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer (born on June 2, 1946).
She currently lives in London. On 12 January 2010, she celebrated her centenary in London. Actor Sir Ian McKellen was one of her guests.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Boulevard.
Best Motion Picture Association:
Rainer appeared in only one Best Motion Picture.
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Academy Awards and Nominations
During her career as a motion picture actor Luise Rainer was twice nominated for the Best Leading Actress Academy Award.
Won Award for Best Actress:
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Good Earth (1937)
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