Claude Rains

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".

The Dark Universe
2023
El hombre invisible (archivo de imagen)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
2007
Self (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
2000
Erique Claudin (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Horror Show
1979
(archive footage)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
King Herod
Twilight of Honor
1963
Art Harper
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
Mr. Dryden
Battle of the Worlds
1961
Professor Benson
The Lost World
1960
Prof. George Edward Challenger
This Earth Is Mine
1959
Philippe Rambeau
Judgment at Nuremberg
1959
Judge Dan Haywood
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957
Mayor of Hamelin
Lisbon
1956
Aristides Mavros
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
1952
Kees Popinga
Sealed Cargo
1951
Capt. Henrik Skalder
Where Danger Lives
1950
Frederick Lannington
The White Tower
1950
Paul Delambre
Rope of Sand
1949
Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
The Passionate Friends
1949
Howard Justin
Song of Surrender
1949
Elisha Hunt
The Unsuspected
1947
Victor Grandison
Notorious
1946
Alexander Sebastian
Angel on My Shoulder
1946
Nick
Deception
1946
Alexander Hollenius
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946
Self
Caesar and Cleopatra
1945
Julius Caesar
Strange Holiday
1945
John Stevenson
This Love of Ours
1945
Joseph Targel
Mr. Skeffington
1944
Job Skeffington
Passage to Marseille
1944
Captain Freycinet
Casablanca
1943
Captain Louis Renault
Forever and a Day
1943
Ambrose Pomfret
Phantom of the Opera
1943
Erique Claudin
Now, Voyager
1942
Dr. Jaquith
Moontide
1942
Nutsy
Kings Row
1942
Alexander Tower
Breakdowns of 1942
1942
Self
The Wolf Man
1941
Sir John Talbot
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941
Mr. Jordan
Breakdowns of 1941
1941
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Four Mothers
1941
Adam Lemp
The Sea Hawk
1940
Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
Lady with Red Hair
1940
David Belasco
Saturday's Children
1940
Mr. Henry Halevy
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
Joseph Paine
They Made Me a Criminal
1939
Det. Monty Phelan
Juarez
1939
Emperor Louis Napoleon III
Four Wives
1939
Adam Lemp
Daughters Courageous
1939
Jim Masters
Sons of Liberty
1939
Haym Salomon
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938
Prince John
Four Daughters
1938
Adam Lemp
White Banners
1938
Paul Ward
Gold Is Where You Find It
1938
Colonel Ferris
Breakdowns of 1938
1938
Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Prince and the Pauper
1937
Earl of Hertford
They Won't Forget
1937
District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
Stolen Holiday
1937
Stefan Orloff
Breakdowns of 1937
1937
Self
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936
Anthony Adverse
1936
Marquis Don Luis
Hearts Divided
1936
Napoleon Bonaparte
Breakdowns of 1936
1936
Self
The Clairvoyant
1935
Maximus
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935
John Jasper
The Last Outpost
1935
John Stevenson
Scrooge
1935
Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
Crime Without Passion
1934
Lee Gentry
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
1934
Paul Verin
The Invisible Man
1933
Dr. Jack Griffin
Build Thy House
1920
Clarkis