Remembering Luise Rainer

There has been one more Hollywood death before the close of 2014, a year that saw the death of two child stars, a poker playin' cowboy, an ugly cowboy, a girl who could whistle, and a comedian. Luise Rainer (pronounced "Rye-ner") was a bright star the dimmed quickly, yet who will always be remembered in Hollywood history.

 

Born Jan. 12, 1910 in Germany (some sources say Vienna).

 

Died Dec. 30, 2014 (pneumonia) in Eaton Square, London (in an apartment once occupied by Vivien Leigh).

 

Nicknames: The Viennese Teardrop, The New Garbo

 

Height: 5'4"

 

With first husband, playwright Clifford Odets, whom she met while filming her first movie, Escapade. Her marriage ended with divorce in 1940.

 

With her second husband, Robert Knittel, a New York publisher, with whom she had one daughter, Francesca. They were married from 1945 to his death in 1989.

 

Her Films

 

Rainer's Hollywood career consisted of only nine movies.

 

Escapade (1935): Set in Vienna in the early 1900s. The wives of two brothers are in love with an artist (Powell). He paints one of them (disguised in furs) and is then confronted by their husbands. He denies knowing either lady and makes up a name for the woman he painted. It turns out there really is a lady by that name (Rainer). They in turn fall in love. Complications arise.

 

Also starring: Frank Morgan, Virginia Bruce, Reginald Owen

 

Fun Fact: Myrna Loy was set to play the lead female part but dropped out. Rainer was chosen to replace her. She received rave reviews for her debut performance: "There is no need to tell you about any of the players except Miss Rainer. You are already aware that there is no man on the screen who can top Mr. Powell when it comes to playing the role of a fascinating philanderer. Nor can a word from this observer add anything to the reputations of such artists as Mr. Morgan and Mr. Owen. If either of them ever gave a bad performance, I missed the film. But about Miss Rainer: her great charm is her simplicity and directness. Because of her wide-eyed facial expressions, the manner in which she pronounces some words, plus certain tricks of inflection in reading lines, Miss Rainer will be accused of imitating Elisabeth Bergner." - source

 

The Great Ziegfeld (1936): A sumptuous, three-hour long biography of Florenz Ziegfeld (Powell), from his beginnings in show business to his final show.

 

Also starring: Frank Morgan, Myrna Loy (playing Ziegfeld's second wife, Billie Burke), Fannie Brice, Virginia Bruce, Reginald Owen, and Ray Bolger.

 

 

Rainer plays Ziegfeld's first wife. Her part is small but the telephone scene (which was almost cut) garnered Rainer her first Oscar nomination and win. She based the scene on part of a play by Jean Cocteau, "The Human Voice."