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|death_place = London, England, United Kingdom |death_cause = Pneumonia |resting_place = Beverly Hills, California |resting_date = 31 December 2014 |nationality = German, Austrian, American |citizenship = Germany United Kingdom |years_active = 1926–1997 | |home_town = Hamburg, Germany Vienna, Austria |residence = London, England, UK |spouse = |children = Francesca Knittel-Bowyer (b. 1946) |parents = Heinrich Rainer Emilie Königsberger }} Luise Rainer (12 January 1910 – 30 December 2014) was a German and American film actress.〔〔 She was the first actor to win multiple Academy Awards and the first person to win them consecutively. At the time of her death, she was the longest-lived individual ever to have received an Academy Award.〔("Oldest living winners of Best Actress Oscar" ), IMDB〕〔("Luise Rainer: Oldest Living Oscar Winner Turns 103" ), Alt Film Guide〕 Rainer began acting in Germany at age 16, being trained by 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 "raved" about her acting quality. 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 envisioned she might become another Greta Garbo, MGM's leading female star at the time. Her first American film role was in ''Escapade'' in 1935. The following year, she was given a supporting part in the musical biography ''The Great Ziegfeld'', where, despite limited appearances, her emotion-filled acting quality so impressed audiences that she was awarded an Oscar as Best Actress. She was later dubbed "the Viennese teardrop", for her dramatic telephone scene in the film.〔"Hilary Swank: The Sequel", ''Los Angeles Magazine'', January 2002 p. 89〕 For her next role, producer Irving Thalberg was convinced, despite the studio's disagreement, that she would also be able to play the part of a poor, plain Chinese farm wife in ''The Good Earth'' (1937), based on Pearl Buck's novel about hardship in China. The subdued character role was such a dramatic contrast to her previous, vivacious character that she again won the Academy Award for Best Actress.〔Vieira, Mark A. ''Hollywood Dreams Made Real'', Abrams (2008) p. 218〕 Yet by winning two consecutive Oscars, she later noted, nothing worse could have happened to her, as audience expectations from then on would be too high to fulfill.〔 After a string of unimportant movie parts, MGM and Rainer became disappointed, leading her to end her brief three-year film career, soon returning to Europe. Adding to her rapid decline, some feel, was the poor career advice given her by then husband, playwright Clifford Odets,〔Affron, Charles, and Edelman, Rob. ''International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers'', St. James Press (1997) pp. 997–999〕 along with the unexpected death at age 37 of her producer, Irving Thalberg, whom she greatly admired. Some film historians consider her the "most extreme case of an Oscar victim in Hollywood mythology".〔Levy, Emanuel. ''All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards'', Continuum International Publ. (2003) p. 314〕 ==Early life and career== The daughter of Heinrich and Emilie (née Königsberger) Rainer, known familiarly as "Heinz" (died 1956) and "Emmy" (died 1961), Rainer was born on 12 January 1910, in Düsseldorf, Germany〔Parker, John (1947) ''Who's Who in the Theatre'', 10th revised ed. London: Pitmans; p. 1176〕 and raised in Hamburg and later in Vienna , Austria. Some references list her birthplace as Vienna.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Turner Classic Movies )〕〔''International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers – Actors and Actresses'', St. James Press (1997) p. 997〕 Describing her childhood, she stated, "I was born into a world of destruction. The Vienna of my childhood was one of starvation, poverty and revolution."〔Osborne, Robert A. ''Academy Awards Illustrated: A Complete History of Hollywood's Academy Awards'', ESE California (1969) p. 71〕 Her father was a businessman who settled in Europe after spending most of his childhood in Texas, where he was sent at the age of six as an orphan. (Rainer had stated that because of her father, she is an American citizen "by birth".)〔"(Luise Rainer, retaining her Viennese vivacity at 73 )" by Bob Thomas, ''The Gettysburg Times'', November 10, 1983, p. 15〕 Rainer's family was upper-class and Jewish.〔Brenman-Gibson, Margaret. ''Clifford Odets'', Applause Books (2002)〕 Rainer had two brothers and was a premature baby, born two months early. She describes her father as being "possessive" and "tempestuous", but whose affections and concern were centered on her. Luise seemed to him as "eternally absent-minded" and "very different". She remembers his "tyrannical possessiveness", and was saddened to see her mother, "a beautiful pianist, and a woman of warmth and intelligence and deeply in love with her husband, suffering similarly".〔 Although generally shy at home, she was immensely athletic in school, becoming a champion runner and a fearless mountain climber. Rainer said she became an actress to help expend her physical and overly emotional energy. It was her father's wish, however, that she attend a good finishing school and "marry the right man."〔 Rainer's rebellious nature made her appear to be more of a "tomboy" and happy to be alone. She also feared she might develop what she saw as her mother's "inferiority complex".〔 She was only six when she decided to become part of the entertainment world, and recalled being inspired by watching a circus act:
At age 16, Rainer chose to follow her dream to become an actress; under the pretext of visiting her mother, she traveled to Düsseldorf for a prearranged audition at the Dumont Theater.〔"How Hollywood 'Discovered' Its Latest Foreign Star" by Dan Thomas, ''Laredo Morning Times'', November 17, 1935 p. 13〕 She later began studying acting with Max Reinhardt, and, by the time she was 18, there was already an "army of critics" who felt that she had unusual talent for a young actress.〔 She soon became a distinguished Berlin stage actress as a member of Reinhardt's Vienna theater ensemble.〔〔Thomson, David. ''The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'', Alfred A. Knopf (2002) p. 708〕 Her first stage appearance was at the Dumont Theater in 1928, followed by other appearances, including Jacques Deval's play ''Mademoiselle'', Kingsley's ''Men in White'', George Bernard Shaw's ''Saint Joan'', ''Measure for Measure'', and Pirandello's ''Six Characters in Search of an Author''.〔 In 1934, after appearing in several German language films, she was seen performing in the play ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' by MGM talent scout Phil Berg, who offered her a three-year contract in Hollywood.〔 He thought she would appeal to the same audience as Swedish MGM star Greta Garbo.〔Shipman, David (1970)''The Great Movie Stars, The Golden Years''. New York: Bonanza Books LCCN 78-133803; pp. 450–51〕 Initially, Rainer had no interest in films, saying in a 1935 interview: "I never wanted to film. I was only for the theater. Then I saw ''A Farewell to Arms'' and right away I wanted to film. It was so beautiful."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Luise Rainer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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