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