Irving Thalberg as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later. Besides bringing a distinctive
Margaret Towner (actress) home in Twickenham. In 2014 Towner, who was 93 years old at the time, returned to television in a 13-episode recurring role as Edna on Ricky Gervais' Channel 4 television, "Derek". Her work on "Derek" made her one of the country's oldest working, professional actresses. Towner died on 10 April 2017 at the age of 96. She was survived by three children: two daughters and one son, actor Clive Francis. Her late husband, actor Raymond Francis, died in 1987. Margaret Towner (actress) Margaret Towner (1 October 1920 – 10 April 2017) was a veteran British stage, film, and television actress.