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person_profile-Claude Rains

Claude Rains Died at age: 77

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Claude Rains

Date of Birth:

Nov 10, 1889

Country of birth:

UK

Died:

May 30, 1967

Biography of

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".

Photos of

Claude Rains

Photos ( 6 Photos

Filmography of

Claude Rains

Found 66 Movies in total

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2013

Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2007

The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked

Erique Claudin (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 2000

Ingrid Bergman Remembered

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1996

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

Self (archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1988

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Self (archive footage) (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1983

The Horror Show

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1979

The Greatest Story Ever Told

King Herod ( Actor )

... 1965

Twilight of Honor

Art Harper ( Actor )

... 1963

Lawrence of Arabia

Mr. Dryden ( Actor )

... 1962

Battle of the Worlds

Professor Benson ( Actor )

... 1961

The Lost World

Prof. George Edward Challenger ( Actor )

... 1960

This Earth Is Mine

Philippe Rambeau ( Actor )

... 1959

Judgment at Nuremberg

Judge Dan Haywood ( Actor )

... 1959

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Mayor of Hamelin ( Actor )

... 1957

Lisbon

Aristides Mavros ( Actor )

... 1956

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By

Kees Popinga ( Actor )

... 1952

Sealed Cargo

Capt. Henrik Skalder ( Actor )

... 1951

Where Danger Lives

Frederick Lannington ( Actor )

... 1950

The White Tower

Paul Delambre ( Actor )

... 1950

Song of Surrender

Elisha Hunt ( Actor )

... 1949

Rope of Sand

Arthur 'Fred' Martingale ( Actor )

... 1949

The Passionate Friends

Howard Justin ( Actor )

... 1949

The Unsuspected

Victor Grandison ( Actor )

... 1947

Deception

Alexander Hollenius ( Actor )

... 1946

Angel on My Shoulder

Nick ( Actor )

... 1946

Notorious

Alexander Sebastian ( Actor )

... 1946

Caesar and Cleopatra

Julius Caesar ( Actor )

... 1945

This Love of Ours

Joseph Targel ( Actor )

... 1945

Strange Holiday

John Stevenson ( Actor )

... 1945

Mr. Skeffington

Job Skeffington ( Actor )

... 1944

Passage to Marseille

Captain Freycinet ( Actor )

... 1944

Phantom of the Opera

Erique Claudin ( Actor )

... 1943

Forever and a Day

Ambrose Pomfret ( Actor )

... 1943

Casablanca

Captain Louis Renault ( Actor )

... 1943

Now, Voyager

Dr. Jaquith ( Actor )

... 1942

Moontide

Nutsy ( Actor )

... 1942

Kings Row

Alexander Tower ( Actor )

... 1942

The Wolf Man

Sir John Talbot ( Actor )

... 1941

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Mr. Jordan ( Actor )

... 1941

Four Mothers

Adam Lemp ( Actor )

... 1941

Lady with Red Hair

David Belasco ( Actor )

... 1940

The Sea Hawk

Don José Alvarez de Cordoba ( Actor )

... 1940

Saturday's Children

Mr. Henry Halevy ( Actor )

... 1940

Four Wives

Adam Lemp ( Actor )

... 1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Joseph Paine ( Actor )

... 1939

Daughters Courageous

Jim Masters ( Actor )

... 1939

Juarez

Emperor Louis Napoleon III ( Actor )

... 1939

They Made Me a Criminal

Det. Monty Phelan ( Actor )

... 1939

Four Daughters

Adam Lemp ( Actor )

... 1938

White Banners

Paul Ward ( Actor )

... 1938

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Prince John ( Actor )

... 1938

Gold Is Where You Find It

Colonel Ferris ( Actor )

... 1938

They Won't Forget

District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin ( Actor )

... 1937

The Prince and the Pauper

Earl of Hertford ( Actor )

... 1937

Stolen Holiday

Stefan Orloff ( Actor )

... 1937

Anthony Adverse

Marquis Don Luis ( Actor )

... 1936

Hearts Divided

Napoleon Bonaparte ( Actor )

... 1936

Scrooge

Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1935

The Last Outpost

John Stevenson ( Actor )

... 1935

The Clairvoyant

Maximus ( Actor )

... 1935

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

John Jasper ( Actor )

... 1935

... 1934

Crime Without Passion

Lee Gentry ( Actor )

... 1934

The Invisible Man

Dr. Jack Griffin ( Actor )

... 1933

Build Thy House

Clarkis ( Actor )

... 1920