Claude Rains
Acting
Born: November 10, 1889 · Clapham, London, England, UK
Died: May 30, 1967 (aged 77)
Highest Rated
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".
Known for
Casablanca
1943
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
Notorious
1946
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
The Invisible Man
1933
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938
The Wolf Man
1941
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Now, Voyager
1942
Phantom of the Opera
1943
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
The Sea Hawk
1940
Photos (8)
Movies (66)
Casablanca
Captain Louis Renault
Lawrence of Arabia
Mr. Dryden
The Invisible Man
Dr. Jack Griffin
Notorious
Alexander Sebastian
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Joseph Paine
The Greatest Story Ever Told
King Herod
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Prince John
The Wolf Man
Sir John Talbot
Now, Voyager
Dr. Jaquith
Mr. Skeffington
Job Skeffington
The Sea Hawk
Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Passage to Marseille
Capt. Freycinet
The Unsuspected
Victor Grandison
Phantom of the Opera
Erique Claudin
Caesar and Cleopatra
Julius Caesar
The Passionate Friends
Howard Justin
The Lost World
Prof. George Edward Challenger
Juarez
Emperor Louis Napoleon III
The Prince and the Pauper
Earl of Hertford
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Mr. Jordan
The Clairvoyant
Maximus
They Made Me a Criminal
Det. Monty Phelan
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
Kees Popinga
Where Danger Lives
Mr. Lannington
Forever and a Day
Ambrose Pomfret
Battle of the Worlds
Professor Benson
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
John Jasper
Four Daughters
Adam Lemp
Gold Is Where You Find It
Colonel Ferris
Four Mothers
Adam Lemp
Rope of Sand
Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
Deception
Alexander Hollenius
Kings Row
Alexander Tower
Angel on My Shoulder
"Nick"
Four Wives
Adam Lemp
The Last Outpost
John Stevenson
The Horror Show
(archive footage)
This Earth Is Mine
Philippe Rambeau
Anthony Adverse
Marquis Don Luis
Moontide
Nutsy
Lisbon
Aristides Mavros
Scrooge
Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
Twilight of Honor
Art Harper
Lady with Red Hair
David Belasco
Breakdowns of 1938
Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sealed Cargo
Capt. Henrik Skalder
They Won't Forget
District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
The White Tower
Paul Delambre
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Mayor of Hamelin
Hearts Divided
Napoleon Bonaparte
White Banners
Paul Ward
Crime Without Passion
Lee Gentry
Stolen Holiday
Stefan Orloff
Daughters Courageous
Jim Masters
Judgment at Nuremberg
Judge Dan Haywood
Saturday's Children
Mr. Henry Halevy
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
Paul Verin
This Love of Ours
Joseph Targel
Song of Surrender
Elisha Hunt
Build Thy House
Clarkis
Halloween Monster Bash
Maximus (archive footage)
The Wolfman
Sir John Talbot
Strange Holiday
John Stevenson
Sons of Liberty
Haym Salomon
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
Erique Claudin (archive footage)
TV Shows (12)
Dr. Kildare
Edward Fredericks · 1 eps
Rawhide
Alexander Longford · 1 eps
Naked City
John Winfield Weston · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
John Fabian · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Charles Gresham · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Andrew Thurgood · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Father Amion · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Leonard Eldridge · 1 eps
Playhouse 90
Judge Dan Haywood · 1 eps
Sam Benedict
1 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Mr. Brink · 1 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
The High Lama · 1 eps
Self / Appearances (12)
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · 1 eps
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1942
Self
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
Blow-Ups of 1946
Self