Luise Rainer was a German-American-British film actress who lived from 12 January 1910 to 30 December 2014. She was the first actor to win back-to-back Academy Awards and the first to more than once. At the time of her passing, just thirteen days short of turning 105, she was the longest-living Oscar winner—a record that has not been broken as of 2023.
Professional career
At the age of 16, Rainer began her acting career in Germany under the guidance of Max Reinhardt, one of Austria’s top theatre directors. With Reinhardt’s Vienna theatre company, she quickly rose to prominence as a renowned Berlin stage actor. Her acting was greatly applauded by critics. She spent many years performing on stage and in films before Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer talent scouts spotted her and offered her a three-year contract in Hollywood in 1935. Many directors believed that she may follow in the footsteps of Greta Garbo, who at the time was MGM’s top female star. Escapade, a 1935 film, gave her first American acting break. The musical biopic The Great Ziegfeld gave her a supporting role the following year, and her emotionally charged performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her dramatic telephone moment in the movie earned her the nickname “Viennese teardrop” in the future.
Academy awards nominations and wins
For Best Actress in a Leading Role, Luise Rainer was nominated for two Academy Awards, and she took home both of them.
The great Ziegfeld (1937)
Luise Rainer played the role of Anna Held in the biographical musical film “The Great Ziegfeld,” a well-known European theatre artist and one of Florenz Ziegfeld’s first spouses. The enormous extravaganza, which was staged by Robert Z. Leonard, honored the life and accomplishments of famed Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfeld. Rainer won praise from critics for her enthralling portrayal of Anna Held. She portrayed Anna Held as a beautiful, independent lady who made a big difference in Ziegfeld’s life. The spectators were brought to tears by Rainer’s ability to portray such a broad spectrum of emotions, from wit and charm to vulnerability. She delivered a moving and poignant speech over the phone in the Academy Award-winning “telephone scene,” professing her love for Ziegfeld and her wish to live eternally in his heart. This was her outstanding part. This sequence probably helped Rainer win the Academy Award for best actress by showcasing her amazing skills.
The good earth (1938)
In the 1938 film adaptation of Pearl S. Buck’s book “The Great Earth,” Luise Rainer played the lead spot of O-Lan, the spouse of Wang Lung (Paul Muni), a down-and-out Chinese rancher. The Sidney Franklin-coordinated film chronicles the battles and triumphs of a poor peasant family in provincial China in the early 20th century. The portrayal of O-Lan by Luise Rainer was a wonderful presentation that procured her a second consecutive Academy Award for Best Actress. O-Lan is a complicated and varied lady who perseveres through much distress and makes extraordinary penances for the welfare of her loved ones. O-Lan was performed by Rainer unpretentiously and discreetly, giving the character a great deal of power, versatility, and a profound feeling of poise. Throughout the entire film, Rainer showed a brilliant scope of feelings, strikingly in the most anguishing scenes when O-Lan endures horrendously peacefully. Her incredible acting abilities were in plain view as she depicted complex feelings with little movement and articulation. Rainer’s depiction of O-Lan is as yet one of her most enduring characters, and it establishes her as a skilled entertainer.
Her roles in “The Great Ziegfeld” and “The Good Earth” remain illustrative features of her unprecedented expertise and craftsmanship forever. In 1958, she quit performing, and she died in 2000.
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