Claude Rains
Biography
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".
Known For
Captain Louis Renault
Casablanca
Alexander Sebastian
Notorious
Mr. Dryden
Lawrence of Arabia
Joseph Paine
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
King Herod
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Prince John
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Prof. George Edward Challenger
The Lost World
Dr. Jack Griffin
The Invisible Man
Frederick Lannington
Where Danger Lives
Julius Caesar
Caesar and Cleopatra
Nick
Angel on My Shoulder
Professor Benson
Il pianeta degli uomini spenti
Alexander Hollenius
Deception
Det. Monty Phelan
They Made Me a Criminal
Dr. Jaquith
Now, Voyager
Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
The Sea Hawk
(archive footage)
The Horror Show
Lee Gentry
Crime Without Passion
Sir John Talbot
The Wolf Man
Victor Grandison
The Unsuspected
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
Nutsy
Moontide
Earl of Hertford
The Prince and the Pauper
Job Skeffington
Mr. Skeffington
Kees Popinga
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
Ambrose Pomfret
Forever and a Day
Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
Rope of Sand
Marquis Don Luis
Anthony Adverse
Erique Claudin
Phantom of the Opera
Clarkis
Build Thy House
Maximus
The Clairvoyant
Mr. Jordan
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Adam Lemp
Four Daughters
Captain Freycinet
Passage to Marseille
District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
They Won't Forget
Howard Justin
The Passionate Friends
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Alexander Tower
Kings Row
John Jasper
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Paul Delambre
The White Tower
John Stevenson
The Last Outpost
Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Juarez
David Belasco
Lady with Red Hair
Paul Ward
White Banners
Adam Lemp
Four Wives
John Stevenson
Strange Holiday
Philippe Rambeau
This Earth Is Mine
Jim Masters
Daughters Courageous
Adam Lemp
Four Mothers
Paul Verin
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
Mayor of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Mr. Henry Halevy
Saturday's Children
Art Harper
Twilight of Honor
Napoleon Bonaparte
Hearts Divided
Stefan Orloff
Stolen Holiday
Capt. Henrik Skalder
Sealed Cargo
Joseph Targel
This Love of Ours
Colonel Ferris
Gold Is Where You Find It
Aristides Mavros
Lisbon
Haym Salomon
Sons of Liberty
Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Erique Claudin (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
Elisha Hunt
Song of Surrender
Self
Breakdowns of 1936
Self
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Blow-Ups of 1946
Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1938
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
Scrooge
Mr. Brink
On Borrowed Time
Self
Breakdowns of 1942
Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Judge Dan Haywood
Judgment at Nuremberg
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
76
Gender
Male
Birthday
1889-11-09
Place of Birth
Clapham, London, England, UK
Also Known As
William Claude Rains