Over the last couple of days, since June Havoc’s death, my post from several months ago on Hollywood beauties that are over 90, which included a photo and commentary on June Havoc, has received quite some number of visitors. One of the commenters reminded me that Luise Rainer is still alive and she’s over 100 (born in 1910). That’s her up above in a picture taken in 2009.
For those of you who aren’t movie buffs in the 1930’s Luise Rainer blazed onto the screen with a series of wonderfully moving performances, becoming IIRC the only actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress two years in succession. She then retired from a career in Hollywood movies, appearing only occasionally on television. At the height of her career she was a star as bright as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, or Katharine Hepburn.
Here’s what she looked like then:
Gorgeous. I watch a lot of classic movies, but I have to admit I was completely unfamiliar with her.
Katherine Hepburn won for Best Actress in 1967-8, FYI. But Rainer seems to have been the first.
I’m not sure of how to think of Kate Hepburn’s ’67 and ’68 wins. She thought (with some reason) that the ’67 win was meant to honor Spencer Tracy. And in ’68 she and Barbra Streisand tied.
Another actress with whom you may not be familiar (I wasn’t until fairly recently) is Kay Francis. She’s been dead for many years but at the height of her career, in the early to mid 1930’s, she was as big a star as Hollywood had. And talk about gorgeous.
Re: Luise Rainer make sure you see The Great Ziegfeld. It is, for practical purposes, a Ziegfeld show with Ziegfeld headliners, sanitized for movie distribution.
The name rang a faint bell – and then I saw that she was in Trouble in Paradise, which was one of my dad’s favorite movies. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, though – your post inspired me to put it on my Netflix queue. I added the Great Ziegfeld as well.
is she still alive until now? i admire her very well because she is great in the movie, the good earth. i really feel the emotions in the movie. she emphasized the emotions very well in the movie.
She turns 101 on January 12, 2011.
Luise Rainer lived across the street from us in San Marino. Then,
she moved in the early 1980’s to England I believe. I once asked
her for an autograph and she refused me. Saying, “When I left
Hollywood, I swore I’d never sign another one.” I walked away
fully understanding her comment. We called her Dorothy, I assume
this is her middle name? Hugs Dorothy………….
Barry Pearson