Claude Rains
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 10, 1889
- Died
- May 30, 1967 (aged 77)
- Birthplace
- Clapham, London, England, UK
Biography
Claude Rains (November 10, 1889 – May 30, 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 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
Photos
Filmography
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
Movie · as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Halloween Monster Bash
Movie · as Maximus (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Horror Show
Movie · as (archive footage)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Movie · as King Herod
Twilight of Honor
Movie · as Art Harper
Lawrence of Arabia
Movie · as Mr. Dryden
Sam Benedict
TV · 1 ep
Battle of the Worlds
Movie · as Professor Benson
Dr. Kildare
TV · as Edward Fredericks · 1 ep
The Lost World
Movie · as Prof. George Edward Challenger
This Earth Is Mine
Movie · as Philippe Rambeau
Judgment at Nuremberg
Movie · as Judge Dan Haywood
Rawhide
TV · as Alexander Longford · 1 ep
Naked City
TV · as John Winfield Weston · 1 ep
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Movie · as Mayor of Hamelin
On Borrowed Time
Movie · as Mr. Brink
Lisbon
Movie · as Aristides Mavros
Playhouse 90
TV · as Judge Dan Haywood · 1 ep
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV · as John Fabian, Charles Gresham, Andrew Thurgood, Father Amion, Leonard Eldridge · 1 ep
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
Movie · as Kees Popinga
Sealed Cargo
Movie · as Capt. Henrik Skalder
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · as Mr. Brink, The High Lama · 1 ep
Where Danger Lives
Movie · as Mr. Lannington
The White Tower
Movie · as Paul Delambre
Rope of Sand
Movie · as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
The Passionate Friends
Movie · as Howard Justin
Song of Surrender
Movie · as Elisha Hunt
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Unsuspected
Movie · as Victor Grandison
Notorious
Movie · as Alexander Sebastian
Caesar and Cleopatra
Movie · as Julius Caesar
Angel on My Shoulder
Movie · as "Nick"
Deception
Movie · as Alexander Hollenius
Blow-Ups of 1946
Movie · as Self
Strange Holiday
Movie · as John Stevenson
This Love of Ours
Movie · as Joseph Targel
Mr. Skeffington
Movie · as Job Skeffington
Passage to Marseille
Movie · as Capt. Freycinet
Casablanca
Movie · as Captain Louis Renault
Forever and a Day
Movie · as Ambrose Pomfret
Phantom of the Opera
Movie · as Erique Claudin
Now, Voyager
Movie · as Dr. Jaquith
Moontide
Movie · as Nutsy
Kings Row
Movie · as Alexander Tower
Breakdowns of 1942
Movie · as Self
The Wolf Man
Movie · as Sir John Talbot
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Movie · as Mr. Jordan
Breakdowns of 1941
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Four Mothers
Movie · as Adam Lemp
The Sea Hawk
Movie · as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Lady with Red Hair
Movie · as David Belasco
Saturday's Children
Movie · as Mr. Henry Halevy
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Movie · as Joseph Paine
They Made Me a Criminal
Movie · as Det. Monty Phelan
Juarez
Movie · as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Four Wives
Movie · as Adam Lemp
Daughters Courageous
Movie · as Jim Masters
Sons of Liberty
Movie · as Haym Salomon
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Movie · as Prince John
Four Daughters
Movie · as Adam Lemp
White Banners
Movie · as Paul Ward
Gold Is Where You Find It
Movie · as Colonel Ferris
Breakdowns of 1938
Movie · as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Prince and the Pauper
Movie · as Earl of Hertford
They Won't Forget
Movie · as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
Stolen Holiday
Movie · as Stefan Orloff
Breakdowns of 1937
Movie · as Self
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
Movie
Anthony Adverse
Movie · as Marquis Don Luis
Hearts Divided
Movie · as Napoleon Bonaparte
Breakdowns of 1936
Movie · as Self
The Clairvoyant
Movie · as Maximus
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Movie · as John Jasper
The Last Outpost
Movie · as John Stevenson
Scrooge
Movie · as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
Crime Without Passion
Movie · as Lee Gentry
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
Movie · as Paul Verin
The Invisible Man
Movie · as Dr. Jack Griffin
Build Thy House
Movie · as Clarkis