Back-to-back Oscar winner Luise Rainer dies at 104

Hollywood legend Luise Rainer, best remembered for winning consecutive Best Actress Oscars in 1936 and 1937, has died of pneumonia. She was 104.
Rainer, a German-born actress, was a stage star in Vienna before migrating to Hollywood under contract with MGM's Louis B. Mayer. She made her Hollywood debut in 1935's Escapade; just a year later, she starred in The Great Ziegfeld, a Best Picture-winning musical drama that netted Rainer her first Best Actress Oscar. The following year, she won Best Actress again for her starring role in an adaptation of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth — the first actor in history to win back-to-back acting Oscars. (Only four others have managed the feat since.)
Despite her unprecedented early successes, Rainer's career fizzled when she walked away from a seven-year contract after the studio pushed her into roles in what she considered to be lesser films. She appeared sporadically in film and television roles for the rest of her life, with a final performance in a 1998 adaptation of Dostoyevsky's The Gambler.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The Oscar is not a curse," she said later. "The curse is that once you have an Oscar, they think you can do anything. They give you bad scripts that are hard to act." She used her second Oscar as a doorstop. --Scott Meslow
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
-
Bergerac: 'darker' reboot of the eighties crime drama
The Week Recommends Irish actor Damien Molony takes over from John Nettles as the Jersey detective
By The Week UK Published
-
Pamela Anderson is 'transfixing' in The Last Showgirl
The Week Recommends 'Quietly touching' film about a Las Vegas showgirl facing the end of her career
By The Week UK Published
-
Is it time to ban smacking in England?
Today's Big Question Experts are calling for 'Victorian-era punishment' to be scrapped, but the government isn't ready to act
By Abby Wilson Published
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published