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".
Acted in
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
2007
as Self (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
2000
as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Svengoolie
1995
as Dr. Jack Griffin/The Invisible Man
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1988
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
The Wolf Man
1966
as Sir John Talbot
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
as King Herod
Twilight of Honor
1963
as Art Harper
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
as Mr. Dryden
Sam Benedict
1962
Battle of the Worlds
1961
as Professor Benson
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Edward Fredericks
The Lost World
1960
as Prof. George Edward Challenger
This Earth Is Mine
1959
as Philippe Rambeau
Judgment at Nuremberg
1959
as Judge Dan Haywood
Rawhide
1959
as Alexander Longford
Naked City
1958
as John Winfield Weston
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957
as Mayor of Hamelin
On Borrowed Time
1957
as Mr. Brink
Playhouse 90
1956
as Judge Dan Haywood
Lisbon
1956
as Aristides Mavros
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as John Fabian
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Charles Gresham
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Andrew Thurgood
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Father Amion
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Leonard Eldridge
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Alexander Sebastian (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
1952
as Kees Popinga
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Mr. Brink
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as The High Lama
Sealed Cargo
1951
as Capt. Henrik Skalder
Where Danger Lives
1950
as Frederick Lannington
The White Tower
1950
as Paul Delambre
Song of Surrender
1949
as Elisha Hunt
Rope of Sand
1949
as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
The Passionate Friends
1949
as Howard Justin
The Unsuspected
1947
as Victor Grandison
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946
as Self
Deception
1946
as Alexander Hollenius
Angel on My Shoulder
1946
as Nick
Notorious
1946
as Alexander Sebastian
Caesar and Cleopatra
1945
as Julius Caesar
This Love of Ours
1945
as Joseph Targel
Strange Holiday
1945
as John Stevenson
Mr. Skeffington
1944
as Job Skeffington
Passage to Marseille
1944
as Captain Freycinet
Phantom of the Opera
1943
as Erique Claudin
Forever and a Day
1943
as Ambrose Pomfret
Casablanca
1943
as Captain Louis Renault
Breakdowns of 1942
1942
as Self
Now, Voyager
1942
as Dr. Jaquith
Moontide
1942
as Nutsy
Kings Row
1942
as Alexander Tower
The Wolf Man
1941
as Sir John Talbot
Breakdowns of 1941
1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941
as Mr. Jordan
Four Mothers
1941
as Adam Lemp
Lady with Red Hair
1940
as David Belasco
The Sea Hawk
1940
as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Saturday's Children
1940
as Mr. Henry Halevy
Four Wives
1939
as Adam Lemp
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
as Joseph Paine
Daughters Courageous
1939
as Jim Masters
Juarez
1939
as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Sons of Liberty
1939
as Haym Salomon
They Made Me a Criminal
1939
as Det. Monty Phelan
Breakdowns of 1938
1938
as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
Four Daughters
1938
as Adam Lemp
White Banners
1938
as Paul Ward
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938
as Prince John
Gold Is Where You Find It
1938
as Colonel Ferris
Breakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self
They Won't Forget
1937
as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
The Prince and the Pauper
1937
as Earl of Hertford
Stolen Holiday
1937
as Stefan Orloff
Breakdowns of 1936
1936
as Self
Anthony Adverse
1936
as Marquis Don Luis
Hearts Divided
1936
as Napoleon Bonaparte
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936
Scrooge
1935
as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
The Last Outpost
1935
as John Stevenson
The Clairvoyant
1935
as Maximus
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935
as John Jasper
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
1934
as Paul Verin
Crime Without Passion
1934
as Lee Gentry
The Invisible Man
1933
as Dr. Jack Griffin
Build Thy House
1920
as Clarkis