Claude Rains
Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 47 years; he later held American citizenship. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man (1933), a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and, perhaps his most famous performance, Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942). Rains was born William Claude Rains in Camberwell, London on November 10, 1889. He grew up, according to his daughter, with "a very serious cockney accent and a speech impediment". His father was British stage actor Frederick Rains, and the young Rains made his stage debut at 11 in Nell of Old Drury. His acting talents were recognised by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, founder of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Tree paid for the elocution lessons Rains needed in order to succeed as an actor. Later, Rains taught at the institution, teaching John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, among others. Rains served in the First World War in the London Scottish Regiment, with fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall. Rains was involved in a gas attack that left him nearly blind in one eye for the rest of his life. However, the war did aid his social advancement and, by its end, he had risen from the rank of Private to Captain. Rains began his career in the London theatre, having a success in the title role of John Drinkwater's play Ulysses S. Grant, the follow-up to the playwright's major hit Abraham Lincoln, and traveled to Broadway in the late 1920s to act in leading roles in such plays as Shaw's The Apple Cart and in the dramatizations of The Constant Nymph, and Pearl S. Buck's novel The Good Earth, as a Chinese farmer. Rains came relatively late to film acting and his first screen test was a failure, but his distinctive voice won him the title role in James Whale's The Invisible Man (1933) when someone accidentally overheard his screen test being played in the next room. Rains later credited director Michael Curtiz with teaching him the more understated requirements of film acting, or "what not to do in front of a camera".
Known For
Credits
- 2013 · Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored as Self (archive footage)
- 2007 · Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman as Self (archive footage)
- 2000 · The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
- 1999 · Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' as Self (archive footage)
- 1996 · Ingrid Bergman Remembered as Self (archive footage)
- 1995 · Svengoolie as Dr. Jack Griffin/The Invisible Man
- 1988 · James Stewart: A Wonderful Life as Self (archive footage)
- 1983 · Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1979 · The Horror Show as (archive footage)
- 1966 · The Wolf Man as Sir John Talbot
- 1965 · The Greatest Story Ever Told as King Herod
- 1963 · Twilight of Honor as Art Harper
- 1962 · Lawrence of Arabia as Mr. Dryden
- 1962 · Sam Benedict as
- 1961 · Battle of the Worlds as Professor Benson
- 1961 · Dr. Kildare as Edward Fredericks
- 1960 · The Lost World as Prof. George Edward Challenger
- 1959 · This Earth Is Mine as Philippe Rambeau
- 1959 · Rawhide as Alexander Longford
- 1958 · Naked City as John Winfield Weston
- 1957 · The Pied Piper of Hamelin as Mayor of Hamelin
- 1957 · On Borrowed Time as Mr. Brink
- 1956 · Playhouse 90 as Judge Dan Haywood
- 1956 · Lisbon as Aristides Mavros
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as John Fabian
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Charles Gresham
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Andrew Thurgood
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Father Amion
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Leonard Eldridge
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Alexander Sebastian (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1952 · The Man Who Watched Trains Go By as Kees Popinga
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Mr. Brink
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as The High Lama
- 1951 · Sealed Cargo as Capt. Henrik Skalder
- 1950 · Where Danger Lives as Frederick Lannington
- 1950 · The White Tower as Paul Delambre
- 1949 · Song of Surrender as Elisha Hunt
- 1949 · Rope of Sand as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
- 1949 · The Passionate Friends as Howard Justin
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- 1947 · The Unsuspected as Victor Grandison
- 1946 · Blow-Ups of 1946 as Self
- 1946 · Deception as Alexander Hollenius
- 1946 · Angel on My Shoulder as Nick
- 1946 · Notorious as Alexander Sebastian
- 1945 · Caesar and Cleopatra as Julius Caesar
- 1945 · This Love of Ours as Joseph Targel
- 1945 · Strange Holiday as John Stevenson
- 1944 · Mr. Skeffington as Job Skeffington
- 1944 · Passage to Marseille as Captain Freycinet
- 1943 · Phantom of the Opera as Erique Claudin
- 1943 · Forever and a Day as Ambrose Pomfret
- 1943 · Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault
- 1942 · Breakdowns of 1942 as Self
- 1942 · Now, Voyager as Dr. Jaquith
- 1942 · Moontide as Nutsy
- 1942 · Kings Row as Alexander Tower
- 1941 · The Wolf Man as Sir John Talbot
- 1941 · Breakdowns of 1941 as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1941 · Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Mr. Jordan
- 1941 · Four Mothers as Adam Lemp
- 1940 · Lady with Red Hair as David Belasco
- 1940 · The Sea Hawk as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
- 1940 · Saturday's Children as Mr. Henry Halevy
- 1939 · Four Wives as Adam Lemp
- 1939 · Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Joseph Paine
- 1939 · Daughters Courageous as Jim Masters
- 1939 · Juarez as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
- 1939 · Sons of Liberty as Haym Salomon
- 1939 · They Made Me a Criminal as Det. Monty Phelan
- 1938 · Breakdowns of 1938 as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1938 · Four Daughters as Adam Lemp
- 1938 · White Banners as Paul Ward
- 1938 · The Adventures of Robin Hood as Prince John
- 1938 · Gold Is Where You Find It as Colonel Ferris
- 1937 · Breakdowns of 1937 as Self
- 1937 · They Won't Forget as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
- 1937 · The Prince and the Pauper as Earl of Hertford
- 1937 · Stolen Holiday as Stefan Orloff
- 1936 · Breakdowns of 1936 as Self
- 1936 · Anthony Adverse as Marquis Don Luis
- 1936 · Hearts Divided as Napoleon Bonaparte
- 1936 · The Making of a Great Motion Picture as
- 1935 · Scrooge as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
- 1935 · The Last Outpost as John Stevenson
- 1935 · The Clairvoyant as Maximus
- 1935 · The Mystery of Edwin Drood as John Jasper
- 1934 · The Man Who Reclaimed His Head as Paul Verin
- 1934 · Crime Without Passion as Lee Gentry
- 1933 · The Invisible Man as Dr. Jack Griffin
- 1920 · Build Thy House as Clarkis