Wow! Luise Rainer is 101

Happy birthday to the oldest living Oscar winner, Luise Rainer

"The Good Earth" and "The Great Ziegfeld"May she live to be as old as she wants to!

Luise was the first actress to become a double Oscar winner (36/37) and the first thespian to do it back-to-back though Spencer Tracy repeated her trick immediately (37/38); Katharine Hepburn (67/68), Jason Robards (76/77) and Tom Hanks (93/94) followed suit.

Tonight
TCM is airing interviews with Luise

OLDEST LIVING OSCAR NOMINEES

1. LUISE RAINER (two time Best Actress winner), now 101.
2. NORMAN CORWIN (nominee, wrote Lust for Life) is 100 1/2.
3. DOUGLAS SLOCOMBE (3-time nominee, shot Raiders of the Lost Ark) is 98 next month.
4. ELMO WILLIAMS (Oscar winner, editing High Noon) is 98 in April.
5. OSWALD MORRIS (Oscar winner, shot Fiddler on the Roof) recently turned 95.
6. OLIVIA deHAVILLAND (two time Best Actress winner and featured in fav actresses gallery) is 94
7. KIRK DOUGLAS (Michael Douglas pappy and 3 time nominee) just turned 94.
8. ERNEST BORGNINE (Best Actor winner, Marty) turns 94 this month. He was last seen in the action comedy Red (2010).
9. CELESTE HOLM (Best Supporting Actress winner for Gentleman's Agreement which we were just discussing and the best thing about a million movies, don'cha think?) is 93.
10. JOAN FONTAINE (Best Actress winner, Suspicion) is 93.

lots more here though I can never decide if the keeping of this list is too morbid or appropriately celebratory of longevity. Wouldn't it be great if they asked ANY of them to present an Oscar this year? Nah, they'll probably ask Miley Cyrus again instead, DAMNIT.

Comments

[Alex in Movieland]

ah, yes, Luise Rainer, oldest living Oscar winner also known as:

- the woman who killed Irene Dunne's Oscar chances 2 years in a row.
- the woman who stopped Bette Davis from being the first actress with 2 Best Actress wins.
- the woman who destroyed Garbo's best chances of taking the trophy.
and most of all:
- the first woman to fall victim to some Oscar curse: almost no career afterwards.

I also wanted to write something about Carole Lombard who was the clear runner-up for 36... or maybe that was Miss Norma doing Juliet?
but found no inspiration.

[William Carey]

TCM is airing a 30 minute interview with Rainer this evening at 8 and 11 PM :

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=354704&mainArticleId=355214

[Jeff D.]

I don't think it's morbid. It's nice to see that these people are still alive and can be appreciated. How many times have you heard of someone's death and didn't realize that they were still alive.

[Fritz]

Yes, she broke a lot of records but she deserved to (= deserved her Oscars).

Happy Birthday, Luise!

[NATHANIEL R]

Jeff D -- thanks for the note. I probably will keep it but maybe only update it once a year so it's not so depressing. i dunno. I do like saying 'you're awesome and still alive" and I hope to live as long as Luise Rainer and that way I can safely say i'm not "middle aged" yet. haha

[Dave in Alamitos Beach]

You HAVE to keep it going. It's not morbid at all. I'm sure the people on the list are more than grateful to be on it! And looking at the list, I was shocked that Eleanor Parker was still alive. Why didn't Oprah drag her out for the big reunion show? She added a LOT to The Sound Of Music and it's about time someone mentioned it. I think I've even seen a couple of her heyday Oscar Nom movies - Caged or Unchained Melody or something.

As for Luise, I wonder if someone in 1938 said, you can have ten more years at the top of Hollywood or live to be 101. What would she have chosen? What would YOU have chosen? Maybe Luise didn't get the Oscar curse, but rather the Oscar blessing?

Oh, and Joan & Olivia, time to give it up gals. I'll bring the martinis, you two bring pillows for the pillow fight, and let's just get this drama over and done with, once and for all.

[Andreas]

I don't find this morbid; it's not a death pool or anything, just a celebration that these legends are still with us. I'm so glad Borgnine and Douglas are still at it... and what are the odds of having two sisters, just about a year apart in age, both on this list? The de Havillands must just all be very long-lived!

[Mike]

If Jeff Bridges was joined onstage to present Best Actress with both Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine (one on both arm), I think I could die happy. Can you imagine the standing ovation?

[Andrew R.]

Ah yes, the first Oscar curse recipient. She should totally present an award, even though realistically, she wouldn't. She's not too proud of her Oscars.

[Brian]

I've always thought that the young Luise bore a striking resemblance to another 2-time Oscar winner: Meryl Streep.

Anyone else see it??

[NATHANIEL R]

Brian -- that's funny. I almost put that into the post. It was heavily on my mind while looking at photos.

[Volvagia]

'36: Lombard
'37: Dunne
'39: Garbo (Sorry, but Vivien Leigh only gets 1)
'40: Russell
'41: Stanwyck (The Lady Eve)
'42: Ingrid Bergman (Year of release = first release ANYWHERE, including festivals)
'43: ?
'44: Stanwyck
'45: Johnson
'46: ?
'47: Kerr
'48: De Havilland
'49: ?
'50: Machiko Kyo (Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve are great performances, equal to this one, but once Degree of Difficulty is factored, I have to give first prize to this.)
'51: Vivien Leigh
'52: ?
'53: Kyoko Kagawa
'54: Grace Kelly (Rear Window)
'55: Shelley Winters (The Night of the Hunter)
'56: Caroll Baker (Baby Doll takes both lead categories, though the Searchers walks off with Director and Picture.)
'57: Audrey Hepburn (Patricia Neal a VERY close second)
'58: Kim Novak
'59: Monroe
'60: Shirley MacLaine (There was no female lead of Psycho and L'Avventura had no substantial characters.)
'61: Monroe (Yes, her last movie as well. Divided between her, Kerr (The Innocents) and Piper Laurie (The Hustler), but I figure this legend deserves more than one nod and Laurie will get hers 15 years later in another category.)
'62: Bette Davis.
'63: Constance Towers (Plus, who could buy Pat Neal as a lead in Hud? Supporting Nominee.)
'64: ? (but probably Julie Andrews)
'65: Julie Christie
'66: Elizabeth Taylor
'67: Anne Bancroft (And this is why I don't get the Academy's lack of foresight)
'68: Claudia Cardinale (one of 4 I hand her. The other three are Supp Actress in '60, '63 and '82)
'69: ? (but probably Jane Fonda)
'70: Pallenberg (as trashy as that gets me viewed. But every stripe of performer needs at least a day in the sun.)
'71: Glenda Jackson
'72: Liza Minelli
'73: Sissy Spacek
'74: Gena Rowlands (Frankly, Faye was a PI's client, and that's support in my books. Once that's the acknowleged category, they both have open fields and are blatant winners. As it happened, they split the vote, allowing the win to go to Burstyn 26 years early.)
'75: Julie Christie (Fletcher was a support to Nichlson's barnstorming.)
'76: Faye Dunaway
'77: Keaton
'78: ? (Probably Ingrid Bergman)
'79: MacLaine
'80: Duvall (The Shining)
'81: Keaton
'82: Streep
'83: Hunt
'84: Currently (don't shoot me) Langenkamp. Will probably, eventually, be Rowlands in Love Streams.
'85: Ringwald (5 leader with teens).
'86: Beatrice Dalle. (Yes. From the movie Ebert called porn. 2nd is Rosselini from Blue Velvet with Weaver from Aliens in 3rd.)
'87: Nancy Allen
'88: Sarandon
'89: Ryder
'90: Huston
'91: Hamilton
'92: Pfeiffer
'93: Pat Arquette
'94: Portman
'95: Moore (Lili Taylor a very close second)
'96: Blethyn (downgrade McDormand to support, but upgrade Baptiste to a co-lead.)
'97: Currently Hunt (though probably going to be HBC eventually)
'98: Potente (German release 1998)
'99: Bening
'00: Burstyn
'01: Kidman
'02: Moore (again)
'03: Johannsen (currently)
'04: Winslet
'05: Bello (please downgrade June Carter Cash to supporting.)
'06: Streep
'07: Page (too young and "not enough of a sex object" for the Academy. She's probably the new Deborah Kerr.)
'08: Hathaway (I didn't love the movie, but in the Lead Actress category, it's a clear winner.)
'09: Have not watched enough modern film to make a judgment.