Luise Rainer, the first person ever to win consecutive Oscars, has died, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, Dec. 30. She was 104 years old.
Her daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer, told the AP that Rainer passed away from pneumonia at her home in London. “She was bigger than life and [could] charm the birds out of the trees,” her daughter said. “If you saw her, you’d never forget her.”
Rainer first rose to fame in the 1930s, with roles in films like The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth, for which she won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Academy Awards in 1937 and 1938, respectively. She worked more sporadically from 1940 to 1965, eventually moving away from Hollywood.
In 1984, she returned to the spotlight to appear on an episode of The Love Boat. Her last role, according to IMDb, was in the 1997 movie The Gambler, which starred Michael Gambon and Dominic West.
Per the AP, Rainer is survived by her daughter, whom she welcomed during her marriage to the late Robert Knittel, and two granddaughters.
