Cast
Claude Rains
Acting
Cast
Claude Rains
Known for
Acting
Born
1889-11-10
From
Clapham, London, England, UK
Died
1967-05-30
Also known as William Claude Rains
Biography
Claude Rains 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".
Lawrence of Arabia
as Mr. Dryden
Casablanca
as Captain Louis Renault
The Adventures of Robin Hood
as Prince John
Notorious
as Alexander Sebastian
The Invisible Man
as Dr. Jack Griffin
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Joseph Paine
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as King Herod
The Wolf Man
as Sir John Talbot
Now, Voyager
as Dr. Jaquith
Juarez
as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Mr. Skeffington
as Job Skeffington
Angel on My Shoulder
as "Nick"
Moontide
as Nutsy
Scrooge
as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
Lisbon
as Aristides Mavros
Anthony Adverse
as Marquis Don Luis
Phantom of the Opera
as Erique Claudin
The Lost World
as Prof. George Edward Challenger
Four Daughters
as Adam Lemp
Sealed Cargo
as Capt. Henrik Skalder
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
as Self (archive footage)
The Sea Hawk
as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
as Mr. Jordan
Deception
as Alexander Hollenius
Passage to Marseille
as Captain Freycinet
Twilight of Honor
as Art Harper
Breakdowns of 1942
as Self
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Caesar and Cleopatra
as Julius Caesar
The Unsuspected
as Victor Grandison
The Horror Show
as (archive footage)
Blow-Ups of 1946
as Self
The Prince and the Pauper
as Earl of Hertford
Four Wives
as Adam Lemp
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
as Self (archive footage)
Kings Row
as Alexander Tower
Breakdowns of 1937
as Self
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
as Kees Popinga
Breakdowns of 1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Crime Without Passion
as Lee Gentry
Rope of Sand
as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
The Passionate Friends
as Howard Justin
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
as John Jasper
This Earth Is Mine
as Philippe Rambeau
Stolen Holiday
as Stefan Orloff
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
as Paul Verin
Where Danger Lives
as Mr. Lannington
Breakdowns of 1938
as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
Battle of the Worlds
as Professor Benson
Gold Is Where You Find It
as Colonel Ferris
Song of Surrender
as Elisha Hunt
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
as Self (archive footage)
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
as Mayor of Hamelin
They Made Me a Criminal
as Det. Monty Phelan
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
as Self (archive footage)
Saturday's Children
as Mr. Henry Halevy
They Won't Forget
as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
Four Mothers
as Adam Lemp
The Last Outpost
as John Stevenson
Forever and a Day
as Ambrose Pomfret
The White Tower
as Paul Delambre
Judgment at Nuremberg
as Judge Dan Haywood
Daughters Courageous
as Jim Masters
This Love of Ours
as Joseph Targel
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
Hearts Divided
as Napoleon Bonaparte
Strange Holiday
as John Stevenson
The Clairvoyant
as Maximus
Lady with Red Hair
as David Belasco
Sons of Liberty
as Haym Salomon
Halloween Monster Bash
as Maximus (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
as Self (archive footage)
On Borrowed Time
as Mr. Brink
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
White Banners
as Paul Ward
The Wolfman
as Sir John Talbot
Build Thy House
as Clarkis
