Claude Rains
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 Movies
Director: David Lean
Writers: Michael Wilson,
Cast: Alec Guinness, Anthony Quayle, Anthony Quinn, Arthur Kennedy, Claude Rains, Donald Wolfit, Jack Hawkins, José Ferrer, Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole,
Director: Irwin Allen
Writers: Charles Bennett,
Cast: Claude Rains, David Hedison, Fernando Lamas, Ian Wolfe, Jay Novello, Jill St. John, Michael Rennie, Ray Stricklyn, Richard Haydn, Vitina Marcus,
Director: John Farrow
Writers: Charles Bennett,
Cast: Billy House, Charles Kemper, Claude Rains, Faith Domergue, Harry Shannon, Jack Kelly, Maureen O'Sullivan, Philip Van Zandt, Ralph Dumke, Robert Mitchum,
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: Ben Hecht,
Cast: Alex Minotis, Cary Grant, Claude Rains, Eberhard Krumschmidt, Ingrid Bergman, Ivan Triesault, Leopoldine Konstantin, Louis Calhern, Moroni Olsen, Reinhold Schünzel,
Director: Vincent Sherman
Writers: Philip G. Epstein,
Cast: Bette Davis, Claude Rains, George Coulouris, Jerome Cowan, John Alexander, Johnny Mitchell, Marjorie Riordan, Richard Waring, Robert Shayne, Walter Abel,
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Jack Moffitt,
Cast: Claude Rains, George Tobias, Helmut Dantine, Humphrey Bogart, John Loder, Michèle Morgan, Peter Lorre, Philip Dorn, Sydney Greenstreet, Victor Francen,
Director: Arthur Lubin
Writers: Eric Taylor,
Cast: Claude Rains, Edgar Barrier, Frank Puglia, Fritz Feld, J. Edward Bromberg, Jane Farrar, Leo Carrillo, Nelson Eddy, Steven Geray, Susanna Foster,
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Howard Koch,
Cast: Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Dooley Wilson, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Madeleine Lebeau, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Sydney Greenstreet,
Director: Irving Rapper
Writers: Casey Robinson,
Cast: Bette Davis, Bonita Granville, Claude Rains, Franklin Pangborn, Gladys Cooper, Ilka Chase, John Loder, Katharine Alexander, Lee Patrick, Paul Henreid,
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Howard W. Koch,
Cast: Alan Hale, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Errol Flynn, Flora Robson, Gilbert Roland, Henry Daniell, James Stephenson, Una O'Connor,
Director: Frank Capra
Writers: Sidney Buchman,
Cast: Beulah Bondi, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Eugene Pallette, Guy Kibbee, H.B. Warner, Harry Carey, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Thomas Mitchell,
