American actress Fay Bainter was working in stock at age five, and by the time she was 19 was one of the privileged members of theatrical impresario David Belasco's company. First starring on Broadway in 1912, Bainter was cast in ingenue or romantic parts for the first portion of her career. When she finally decided to give movies a try, it was as a mature, somewhat plump character actress. Her first film was This Side of Heaven (1934), after which, according to many historians she was established in kindly, motherly roles - except for those in which she wasn't so kind and motherly, which constituted the more interesting moments of her film career. In 1938, Bainter made cinema history by being nominated for two Academy Awards in two different categories: As best actress for White Banners, a second-string Warners drama in which she played a "Mrs. Fixit", and as best supporting actress in Jezebel, where she had the somewhat harsher role of southern belle Bette Davis' remonstrative Aunt Belle. Academy members were confused by Bainter's dual nomination, the result being that the Academy was compelled to change its nominating and voting rules (P.S.: She won for Jezebel).