Claude Rains
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Nov 10, 1889
- Died
- May 30, 1967 (aged 77)
- Place of birth
- Clapham, London, England, UK
- Credits
- 85
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
Casablanca
1943Movie
Captain Louis Renault
Lawrence of Arabia
1962Movie
Mr. Dryden
Notorious
1946Movie
Alexander Sebastian
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939Movie
Joseph Paine
The Invisible Man
1933Movie
Dr. Jack Griffin
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938Movie
Prince John
Filmography
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013Movie
Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
2007Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
2000Movie
Erique Claudin (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999Movie
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996Movie
Self (archive footage)
Halloween Monster Bash
1991Movie
Maximus (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987Movie
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983Movie
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Horror Show
1979Movie
(archive footage)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965Movie
King Herod
Twilight of Honor
1963Movie
Art Harper
Lawrence of Arabia
1962Movie
Mr. Dryden
Sam Benedict
1962TV
Battle of the Worlds
1961Movie
Professor Benson
Dr. Kildare
1961TV
Edward Fredericks
The Lost World
1960Movie
Prof. George Edward Challenger
This Earth Is Mine
1959Movie
Philippe Rambeau
Judgment at Nuremberg
1959Movie
Judge Dan Haywood
Rawhide
1959TV
Alexander Longford
Naked City
1958TV
John Winfield Weston
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957Movie
Mayor of Hamelin
On Borrowed Time
1957Movie
Mr. Brink
Playhouse 90
1956TV
Judge Dan Haywood
Lisbon
1956Movie
Aristides Mavros
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955TV
John Fabian, Charles Gresham, Andrew Thurgood, Father Amion, Leonard Eldridge
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
1952Movie
Kees Popinga
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951TV
Mr. Brink, The High Lama
Sealed Cargo
1951Movie
Capt. Henrik Skalder
Where Danger Lives
1950Movie
Mr. Lannington
The White Tower
1950Movie
Paul Delambre
Song of Surrender
1949Movie
Elisha Hunt
Rope of Sand
1949Movie
Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
The Passionate Friends
1949Movie
Howard Justin
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948TV
Self
The Unsuspected
1947Movie
Victor Grandison
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946Movie
Self
Deception
1946Movie
Alexander Hollenius
Angel on My Shoulder
1946Movie
"Nick"
Notorious
1946Movie
Alexander Sebastian
Caesar and Cleopatra
1945Movie
Julius Caesar
This Love of Ours
1945Movie
Joseph Targel
Strange Holiday
1945Movie
John Stevenson
Mr. Skeffington
1944Movie
Job Skeffington
Passage to Marseille
1944Movie
Capt. Freycinet
Phantom of the Opera
1943Movie
Erique Claudin
Forever and a Day
1943Movie
Ambrose Pomfret
Casablanca
1943Movie
Captain Louis Renault
Breakdowns of 1942
1942Movie
Self
Now, Voyager
1942Movie
Dr. Jaquith
Moontide
1942Movie
Nutsy
Kings Row
1942Movie
Alexander Tower
The Wolf Man
1941Movie
Sir John Talbot
Breakdowns of 1941
1941Movie
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941Movie
Mr. Jordan
Four Mothers
1941Movie
Adam Lemp
Lady with Red Hair
1940Movie
David Belasco
The Sea Hawk
1940Movie
Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Saturday's Children
1940Movie
Mr. Henry Halevy
Four Wives
1939Movie
Adam Lemp
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939Movie
Joseph Paine
Daughters Courageous
1939Movie
Jim Masters
Juarez
1939Movie
Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Sons of Liberty
1939Movie
Haym Salomon
They Made Me a Criminal
1939Movie
Det. Monty Phelan
Breakdowns of 1938
1938Movie
Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
Four Daughters
1938Movie
Adam Lemp
White Banners
1938Movie
Paul Ward
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938Movie
Prince John
Gold Is Where You Find It
1938Movie
Colonel Ferris
Breakdowns of 1937
1937Movie
Self
They Won't Forget
1937Movie
District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
The Prince and the Pauper
1937Movie
Earl of Hertford
Stolen Holiday
1937Movie
Stefan Orloff
Breakdowns of 1936
1936Movie
Self
Anthony Adverse
1936Movie
Marquis Don Luis
Hearts Divided
1936Movie
Napoleon Bonaparte
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936Movie
Scrooge
1935Movie
Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
The Last Outpost
1935Movie
John Stevenson
The Clairvoyant
1935Movie
Maximus
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935Movie
John Jasper
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
1934Movie
Paul Verin
Crime Without Passion
1934Movie
Lee Gentry
The Invisible Man
1933Movie
Dr. Jack Griffin
Build Thy House
1920Movie
Clarkis