Luise Rainer
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AI overview
Luise Rainer was a German-born actress who lived from 1910 to 2014 and had a long career spanning most of the twentieth century. She matters because she was a notable figure in film history during a period of significant changes in cinema and entertainment.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person
- Born
- 1910-01-12
- Died
- 2014-12-30
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Acting · Düsseldorf, Germany
Luise Rainer (/ˈraɪnər/; January 12, 1910 – December 30, 2014) was a German-American film actress. She was the first actor to win more than one Academy Award; at the time of her death she was the longest-lived Oscar recipient. 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…
Known for
- Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood — (archive footage)2019
- Luise Rainer: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival2011
- Hollywood Chinese — Self2007
- Ziegfeld on Film — Herself (interviewee, and in clips from The Great Ziegfeld)2004
- Poem: I Set My Foot Upon the Air and It Carried Me — Actor - Gesang Der Geister Über Den Wassern2003
- The Gambler — Grandmother1997
- Frank Capra's American Dream — Self (archive footage)1997
- That's Entertainment! III — (archive footage)1994
Article
Luise Rainer (/ˈraɪnər/ 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. A number of filmmakers predicted she might become another Greta Garbo, MGM's leading female star at the time.