Claude Rains

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

90

Gender

Male

Birthday

1889-11-09

Deathday

1967-05-30 (77 years old)

Place of Birth

Clapham, London, England, UK

Also Known As

  • William Claude Rains

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

Casablanca
8.2%

Casablanca

Jan 15, 1943

Lawrence of Arabia
8.0%

Lawrence of Arabia

Dec 11, 1962

Notorious
7.8%

Notorious

Aug 21, 1946

The Invisible Man
7.5%

The Invisible Man

Nov 3, 1933

The Wolf Man
7.0%

The Wolf Man

Dec 12, 1941

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Acting

2013
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored as Self (archive footage)
2007
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman as Self (archive footage)
2000
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
1999
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' as Self (archive footage)
1996
Ingrid Bergman Remembered as Self (archive footage)
1988
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life as Self (archive footage)
1983
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1979
The Horror Show as (archive footage)
1966
The Wolf Man as Sir John Talbot
1965
The Greatest Story Ever Told as King Herod
1963
Twilight of Honor as Art Harper
1962
Lawrence of Arabia as Mr. Dryden
1962
Sam Benedict
1961
Dr. Kildare as Edward Fredericks
1961
Battle of the Worlds as Professor Benson
1960
The Lost World as Prof. George Edward Challenger
1959
This Earth Is Mine as Philippe Rambeau
1959
Rawhide as Alexander Longford
1958
Naked City as John Winfield Weston
1957
The Pied Piper of Hamelin as Mayor of Hamelin
1957
On Borrowed Time as Mr. Brink
1956
Playhouse 90 as Judge Dan Haywood
1956
Lisbon as Aristides Mavros
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents as John Fabian
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Alexander Sebastian (archive footage) (uncredited)
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Charles Gresham
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Andrew Thurgood
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Father Amion
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Leonard Eldridge
1952
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By as Kees Popinga
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame as Mr. Brink
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame as The High Lama
1951
Sealed Cargo as Capt. Henrik Skalder
1950
Where Danger Lives as Frederick Lannington
1950
The White Tower as Paul Delambre
1949
Song of Surrender as Elisha Hunt
1949
Rope of Sand as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
1949
The Passionate Friends as Howard Justin
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
1947
The Unsuspected as Victor Grandison
1946
Blow-Ups of 1946 as Self
1946
Deception as Alexander Hollenius
1946
Angel on My Shoulder as Nick
1946
Notorious as Alexander Sebastian
1945
Caesar and Cleopatra as Julius Caesar
1945
This Love of Ours as Joseph Targel
1945
Strange Holiday as John Stevenson
1944
Mr. Skeffington as Job Skeffington
1944
Passage to Marseille as Captain Freycinet
1943
Phantom of the Opera as Erique Claudin
1943
Forever and a Day as Ambrose Pomfret
1943
Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault
1942
Breakdowns of 1942 as Self
1942
Now, Voyager as Dr. Jaquith
1942
Moontide as Nutsy
1942
Kings Row as Alexander Tower
1941
The Wolf Man as Sir John Talbot
1941
Breakdowns of 1941 as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Mr. Jordan
1941
Four Mothers as Adam Lemp
1940
Lady with Red Hair as David Belasco
1940
The Sea Hawk as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
1940
Saturday's Children as Mr. Henry Halevy
1939
Four Wives as Adam Lemp
1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Joseph Paine
1939
Daughters Courageous as Jim Masters
1939
Juarez as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
1939
Sons of Liberty as Haym Salomon
1939
They Made Me a Criminal as Det. Monty Phelan
1938
Breakdowns of 1938 as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938
Four Daughters as Adam Lemp
1938
White Banners as Paul Ward
1938
The Adventures of Robin Hood as Prince John
1938
Gold Is Where You Find It as Colonel Ferris
1937
Breakdowns of 1937 as Self
1937
They Won't Forget as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
1937
The Prince and the Pauper as Earl of Hertford
1937
Stolen Holiday as Stefan Orloff
1936
Breakdowns of 1936 as Self
1936
Anthony Adverse as Marquis Don Luis
1936
Hearts Divided as Napoleon Bonaparte
1936
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1935
Scrooge as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
1935
The Last Outpost as John Stevenson
1935
The Clairvoyant as Maximus
1935
The Mystery of Edwin Drood as John Jasper
1934
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head as Paul Verin
1934
Crime Without Passion as Lee Gentry
1933
The Invisible Man as Dr. Jack Griffin
1920
Build Thy House as Clarkis
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