Claude Rains

Birthday:

11/09/1889

Place of birth:

Clapham, London, England, UK:

Biography:

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".



Credits

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored (2013)
Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman (2007)
Self (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000)
Erique Claudin (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' (1999)
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered (1996)
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life (1988)
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Horror Show (1979)
(archive footage)
The Wolf Man (1966)
Sir John Talbot
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
King Herod
Twilight of Honor (1963)
Art Harper
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Mr. Dryden
Battle of the Worlds (1961)
Professor Benson
The Lost World (1960)
Prof. George Edward Challenger
This Earth Is Mine (1959)
Philippe Rambeau
The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957)
Mayor of Hamelin
On Borrowed Time (1957)
Mr. Brink
Lisbon (1956)
Aristides Mavros
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952)
Kees Popinga
Sealed Cargo (1951)
Capt. Henrik Skalder
Where Danger Lives (1950)
Frederick Lannington
The White Tower (1950)
Paul Delambre
Song of Surrender (1949)
Elisha Hunt
Rope of Sand (1949)
Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
The Passionate Friends (1949)
Howard Justin
The Unsuspected (1947)
Victor Grandison
Blow-Ups of 1946 (1946)
Self
Deception (1946)
Alexander Hollenius
Angel on My Shoulder (1946)
Nick
Notorious (1946)
Alexander Sebastian
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
Julius Caesar
This Love of Ours (1945)
Joseph Targel
Strange Holiday (1945)
John Stevenson
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
Job Skeffington
Passage to Marseille (1944)
Captain Freycinet
Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Erique Claudin
Forever and a Day (1943)
Ambrose Pomfret
Casablanca (1943)
Captain Louis Renault
Breakdowns of 1942 (1942)
Self
Now, Voyager (1942)
Dr. Jaquith
Moontide (1942)
Nutsy
Kings Row (1942)
Alexander Tower
The Wolf Man (1941)
Sir John Talbot
Breakdowns of 1941 (1941)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Mr. Jordan
Four Mothers (1941)
Adam Lemp
Lady with Red Hair (1940)
David Belasco
The Sea Hawk (1940)
Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Saturday's Children (1940)
Mr. Henry Halevy
Four Wives (1939)
Adam Lemp
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Joseph Paine
Daughters Courageous (1939)
Jim Masters
Juarez (1939)
Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Sons of Liberty (1939)
Haym Salomon
They Made Me a Criminal (1939)
Det. Monty Phelan
Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)
Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
Four Daughters (1938)
Adam Lemp
White Banners (1938)
Paul Ward
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Prince John
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
Colonel Ferris
Breakdowns of 1937 (1937)
Self
They Won't Forget (1937)
District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
Earl of Hertford
Stolen Holiday (1937)
Stefan Orloff
Breakdowns of 1936 (1936)
Self
Anthony Adverse (1936)
Marquis Don Luis
Hearts Divided (1936)
Napoleon Bonaparte
The Making of a Great Motion Picture (1936)
Scrooge (1935)
Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
The Last Outpost (1935)
John Stevenson
The Clairvoyant (1935)
Maximus
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)
John Jasper
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934)
Paul Verin
Crime Without Passion (1934)
Lee Gentry
The Invisible Man (1933)
Dr. Jack Griffin
Build Thy House (1920)
Clarkis