Trivia

When the Academy decided to bring back past Oscar winners in 1997 and 2002 for their Oscar Family Album, despite frail health, Ms. Rainer happily agreed to travel from London to Hollywood to attend both ceremonies. She remarked "If I don't show up they'll think I'm dead!" both times.

Gave her 1937 Best Actress Oscar for The Good Earth (1937) to removal men who helped her relocate from Switzerland to London in 1989; she had been using the award as a doorstep for years and it was bent out of shape.

The first multiple Oscar-winning actor or actress to reach the age of 100. Followed by Olivia de Havilland in 2016.

Was forced to attend the Oscar ceremony by Louis B. Mayer to receive her Oscar. In the early Academy Awards ceremonies the winners were announced beforehand in the newspapers. A team of MGM staff arrived at her house and made her dress in appropriate evening wear, and rushed her to the show - just in time.

As of 2014, at 104 years old, she was the oldest living Oscar winner.

Was the first actor to win back-to-back Academy Awards, for her performances in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937). She was also the first actor to win two Oscars. The following year, 1938, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, and Walter Brennan also became double Academy Award winners.

She shares the honor of having several firsts with the Academy Awards. She was the first actor to achieve the perfect Oscar track record (two nominations-two wins). She was the first actor to receive double Oscars consecutively. She was the first to obtain two Oscars and was the first to achieve double Oscars before turning 30. She was the first actress to win an Academy Award for portraying a real-life person (The Great Ziegfeld (1936)).

On January 12th, 2010, Louise celebrated her 100th birthday. She is still fairly active and spry for her age. (January 2010)

Currently lives at 54 Eaton Square, London, in an apartment once occupied by Vivien Leigh. (2004)

The youngest person to ever win a second Oscar (aged 28, for The Good Earth (1937)).

Attended The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) and appeared in the Oscar winner tribute sequence introduced by Olivia de Havilland. She was the most senior member of the tribute sequence.

Considers her performance as O-Lan Ling in The Good Earth (1937) to be her finest on film.

Her death at age 104 years, 352 days makes her the longest-lived recipient of an Academy Award for acting.

One of two actresses born in Germany to win the Oscar; the other being Simone Signoret.

Federico Fellini offered her a part in his 1960 film La Dolce Vita (1960), and a scene was written specifically for her. She was not happy with the character, however, and asked for rewrites to be done. Ultimately Fellini abandoned the idea due to these demands, much to her chagrin.

Returned to work 14 months after giving birth to her daughter Francesca Knittel-Bowyer to begin performing in the US tour of "Joan of Lorraine", replacing Ingrid Bergman in the title role.

Is only one of seven actors who have a 2-0 winning record when nominated for an acting Oscar, her two wins for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937). The others are Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951); Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) and Airport (1970); Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects (1995) and American Beauty (1999); Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004); Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012); and Mahershala Ali for Moonlight (2016) and Green Book (2018).

Became a US citizen in the 1940s.

Of all the living winners of a competitive Oscar she has had hers the longest (as of 2013) - 77 years. She last won in 1937 for The Good Earth (1937).

Gave birth to her 1st child at age 36, a daughter Francesca Knittel-Bowyer on June 2, 1946. Child's father is her now late 2nd husband, Robert Knittel.

A non-conformist to the MGM star-system, she used to parade around Hollywood untidily dressed, usually with no make-up and wearing pants. Her non-conformist style of behavior cost Ms. Rainer her contract with MGM in the late '30s.

Was in consideration for the role of Maria in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) but Ingrid Bergman, who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, was cast instead.

With her soulful eyes, luminous beauty, and emotional intensity, Rainer was well on her way to becoming one of Hollywood's top stars after making only a handful of movies in the 1930s. At age 28, she became the first actor to win back-to-back Academy Awards, winning Best Actress for both The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937). But Rainer was not a conventional star. She refused to wear glamorous clothes or make-up. She disparaged Hollywood people, preferring the company of Albert Einstein, George Gershwin, Thomas Mann, Frank Lloyd Wright, and other artists and intellectuals. She also clashed with studio boss Louis B. Mayer over the lack of quality roles she was given following her success at the Oscars. "We made you and we're going to kill you," Mayer warned Rainer after a particularly bitter confrontation. He quickly made good on his threat, ruining her career so completely that, as film historian David Thomson later wrote, her two Oscar statuettes "might have been voodoo dolls". Rainer's meteoric rise and rapid descent mystified movie fans for decades. She made only a half-dozen films before turning her back on Hollywood, appearing only occasionally on stage and in movies and television series over the next decades. In her final film role, Rainer played a grandmother in The Gambler (1997), a performance for which she was widely praised. But she mostly lived a quiet life in Europe with British publisher Robert Knittel, whom she married in 1945. Knittel died in 1989.

Was the 10th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) at The 9th Academy Awards on March 4, 1937.

She is mentioned in Truman Capote's novel "Breakfast at Tiffany's". When discussing Holly Golightly's chances of making it, the Hollywood agent O.J. Berman says, "If you mean future, you're wrong again. Now a couple of years back, out on the Coast, there was a time it could've been different. She had something working for her, she had them interested, she could've really rolled. But when you walk out on a thing like that, you don't walk back. Ask Luise Rainer. And Rainer was a star. Sure, Holly was no star; she never got out of the still department. But that was before The Story of Dr. Wassell. Then she could've really rolled. I know, see, cause I'm the guy was giving her the push.".

Was coaxed out of a 20-year retirement to appear on Finest Hour (1965).

Is one of 12 actresses who won the Best Actress Oscar for a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for The Great Ziegfeld (1936)). The others are Claudette Colbert for It Happened One Night (1934), Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind (1939), Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver (1942), Louise Fletcher for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977), Shirley MacLaine for Terms of Endearment (1983), Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Frances McDormand for Nomadland (2020).

Her second husband, Robert Knittel, was a New York publisher whom she married in 1945. They had one child, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer.

Parents were Heinrich Rainer and his wife Emilie Königsberger.

Grandmother to Luisa and Nicole, and great-grandmother to Luca and Hunter.

She lived at 54 Eaton Square, London, in an apartment once occupied by Vivien Leigh.

Is one of 5 actresses to have won an Oscar for a movie where they acted out a labor, Rainer's being for The Good Earth (1937). The others are Mary Astor for The Great Lie (1941), Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (1948), Kim Hunter for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Brenda Fricker for My Left Foot (1989).

Paul Muni was her least favourite leading man. While she though him to be a good actor she found him difficult.

Her first American film was 'Escapade' in 1935 with William Powell, her favourite actor to work with. Paul Muni was her least favourite as while he was a good actor he was very difficult.

Is one of 12 actresses who won the Best Actress Oscar for playing a character who is pregnant at some point during the film; hers being for The Good Earth (1937). The others are Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931), Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind (1939), Ginger Rogers for Kitty Foyle (1940), Olivia de Havilland for To Each His Own (1946), Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (1948), Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo (1955), Julie Christie for Darling (1965), Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968), Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), Sissy Spacek for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) and Frances McDormand for Fargo (1996).

She always thought herself better suited to the stage than to films.

Her first American film was 'Escapade' in 1935 with William Powell, her favourite to work with while Paul Muni was her least favourite as while he was a good actor he was very difficult.

She studied with Max Reihardt and performed with him in repertory. MGM sent talent scouts to look at another actress but she was picked instead and invited to Hollywood.

Is one of 10 actresses to have won a Best Actress Oscar for a movie in which they sing in character, hers being for The Great Ziegfeld (1936). The others are Ingrid Bergman, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Ellen Burstyn, Diane Keaton, Sissy Spacek, Reese Witherspoon and Emma Stone. One could argue that Marion Cotillard belongs on this list but she mimed to Édith Piaf for La Vie En Rose (2007) rather than use her own voice.

She was married to the playwrite Clifford Odets (1937 - 40) but at the time they were both very busy with their careers.

Is one of 19 actresses to have received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for a performance where they acted out a labor and/or birth; hers being for The Good Earth (1937). The others in chronological order are Jane Wyman for _Johnny Belinda (1948), Eleanor Parker for Caged (1950), Elizabeth Taylor for Raintree County (1957), Leslie Caron for The L-Shaped Room (1962), Shirley MacLaine for Irma la Douce (1963), Vanessa Redgrave for Isadora (1968), Geneviève Bujold for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Marsha Mason for Cinderella Liberty (1973), Ann-Margret for Tommy (1975), Ellen Burstyn for Same Time, Next Year (1978), Jessica Lange for Sweet Dreams (1985), Meryl Streep for A Cry in the Dark (1988), Samantha Morton for In America (2002), Elliot Page for Juno (2007), Gabourey Sidibe for Precious (2009), Ruth Negga for Loving (2016), Yalitza Aparicio for Roma (2018) and Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman (2020).

On 5 September 2011, then 101-year-old Rainer travelled to Berlin to receive a star on the Boulevard der Stars. Her star was among the 21 stars issued in 2011 and followed the 20 that were issued in 2010. The star was issued as an exception and was not without controversy. Rainer had been forgotten when the Boulevard der Stars opened in 2010, despite being Germany's only Academy Award-winning actress.

Her memorabilia were auctioned in 2015. The auction netted US$489,069 for her heirs.

Delivered her daughter Francesca Knittel-Bowyer via Caesarean section.

She along with Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Vivien Leigh, Glenda Jackson, Fredric March, Elizabeth Taylor and Spencer Tracy all won 2 Oscars each.