Charles Laughton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English-American stage and film actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making an impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic. His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on notable British films of the era, including The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings. Among Laughton's biggest film hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Big Clock. In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the thriller The Night of the Hunter. Daniel Day-Lewis cited Laughton as one of his inspirations, saying: "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor, he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."
Known For
Credits
- 2019 · Brecht as Galileo (voice)
- 2014 · Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau as Self (archive footage)
- 2014 · Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film as Dr. Moreau (archive footage)
- 2009 · 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year as Self (archive footage)
- 2002 · Charles Laughton Directs 'The Night of the Hunter' as Self (archive footage)
- 1999 · Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' as Self (archive footage)
- 1991 · Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1983 · Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1982 · Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid as (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
- 1982 · Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! as Self (archive footage)
- 1979 · The Horror Show as (archive footage)
- 1972 · Hollywood: The Dream Factory as Self (archive footage)
- 1969 · The Epic That Never Was as Claudius
- 1962 · Advise & Consent as Senator Seabright Cooley
- 1960 · Spartacus as Sempronius Gracchus
- 1960 · Under Ten Flags as Admiral Russell
- 1959 · Startime as
- 1957 · Witness for the Prosecution as Sir Wilfrid
- 1957 · The Lux Show as Self
- 1956 · The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
- 1956 · The Steve Allen Show as Self - Guest
- 1954 · The Jimmy Durante Show as Self
- 1954 · Hobson's Choice as Henry Horatio Hobson
- 1953 · Young Bess as King Henry VIII
- 1953 · Salome as King Herod
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Edwin Kensington
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Henry Denry
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as M. Hamel
- 1952 · Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd as Capt. William Kidd
- 1952 · O. Henry's Full House as Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
- 1951 · The Blue Veil as Fred K. Begley
- 1951 · The Strange Door as Sire Alain de Maletroit
- 1950 · The Colgate Comedy Hour as Self
- 1950 · Star Time as Self
- 1950 · What's My Line? as Self - Mystery Guest
- 1949 · The Man on the Eiffel Tower as Inspector Jules Maigret
- 1949 · The Art Director as Self - from 'The Big Clock' (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1949 · The Bribe as J.J. Bealer
- 1948 · The Girl from Manhattan as The Bishop
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self - Guest Host
- 1948 · The Big Clock as Earl Janoth
- 1948 · Arch of Triumph as Ivon Haake
- 1948 · On Our Merry Way as Reverend
- 1947 · The Paradine Case as Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
- 1947 · Leben des Galilei as Galileo Galilei
- 1946 · Because of Him as John Sheridan
- 1945 · Captain Kidd as Captain Kidd
- 1945 · The Suspect as Philip Marshall
- 1944 · The Canterville Ghost as Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
- 1943 · The Man from Down Under as Jocko Wilson
- 1943 · This Land Is Mine as Albert Lory
- 1943 · Forever and a Day as Bellamy
- 1942 · Stand by for Action as Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
- 1942 · Tales of Manhattan as Charles Smith
- 1942 · The Tuttles of Tahiti as Jonas
- 1941 · It Started with Eve as Jonathan Reynolds
- 1940 · They Knew What They Wanted as Tony Patucci
- 1940 · Cavalcade of the Academy Awards as Self
- 1939 · The Hunchback of Notre Dame as The Hunchback Quasimodo
- 1939 · Jamaica Inn as Sir Humphrey Pengallan
- 1938 · St. Martin's Lane as Charles Staggers
- 1938 · Vessel of Wrath as Ginger Ted
- 1936 · Rembrandt as Rembrandt van Rijn
- 1935 · Mutiny on the Bounty as Captaine Bligh
- 1935 · Les Misérables as Inspector Emile Javert
- 1935 · Ruggles of Red Gap as Marmaduke Ruggles
- 1934 · The Barretts of Wimpole Street as Edward Moulton-Barrett
- 1933 · White Woman as Horace H. Prin
- 1933 · The Private Life of Henry VIII as Henry VIII
- 1933 · The Clerk as Phineas V. Lambert
- 1932 · Island of Lost Souls as Dr. Moreau
- 1932 · The Sign of the Cross as Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
- 1932 · If I Had a Million as Phineas V. Lambert
- 1932 · Payment Deferred as William Marble
- 1932 · The Old Dark House as Sir William Porterhouse
- 1932 · Devil and the Deep as Cmdr. Charles Sturm
- 1931 · Down River as Captain Grossman
- 1930 · Comets as Himself
- 1930 · Wolves as Captain Job
- 1929 · Piccadilly as A Continental Visitor
- 1928 · Blue Bottles as Burglar
- 1928 · The Tonic as Father of the Family
- 1928 · Daydreams as Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence