Acting · Clapham, London, England, UK · Born November 10, 1889
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".
MovieClassic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFamous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
2007
as Self (archive footage)
MovieThe Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
2000
as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
MovieMonster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
MovieIngrid Bergman Remembered
1996
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHalloween Monster Bash
1991
as Maximus (archive footage)
MovieJames Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987
as Self (archive footage)
MovieHollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieThe Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
MovieThe Wolfman
1966
as Sir John Talbot
MovieThe Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
as King Herod
MovieTwilight of Honor
1963
as Art Harper
MovieLawrence of Arabia
1962
as Mr. Dryden
TVSam Benedict
1962
MovieBattle of the Worlds
1961
as Professor Benson
TVDr. Kildare
1961
as Edward Fredericks
MovieThe Lost World
1960
as Prof. George Edward Challenger
MovieThis Earth Is Mine
1959
as Philippe Rambeau
MovieJudgment at Nuremberg
1959
as Judge Dan Haywood
TVRawhide
1959
as Alexander Longford
TVNaked City
1958
as John Winfield Weston
MovieThe Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957
as Mayor of Hamelin
On Borrowed Time
1957
as Mr. Brink
TVPlayhouse 90
1956
as Judge Dan Haywood
MovieLisbon
1956
as Aristides Mavros
TVAlfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as John Fabian
MovieThe Man Who Watched Trains Go By
1952
as Kees Popinga
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Mr. Brink
MovieSealed Cargo
1951
as Capt. Henrik Skalder
MovieWhere Danger Lives
1950
as Mr. Lannington
MovieThe White Tower
1950
as Paul Delambre
MovieSong of Surrender
1949
as Elisha Hunt
MovieRope of Sand
1949
as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
MovieThe Passionate Friends
1949
as Howard Justin
TVThe Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
MovieThe Unsuspected
1947
as Victor Grandison
MovieBlow-Ups of 1946
1946
as Self
MovieDeception
1946
as Alexander Hollenius
MovieAngel on My Shoulder
1946
as "Nick"
MovieNotorious
1946
as Alexander Sebastian
MovieCaesar and Cleopatra
1945
as Julius Caesar
MovieThis Love of Ours
1945
as Joseph Targel
MovieStrange Holiday
1945
as John Stevenson
MovieMr. Skeffington
1944
as Job Skeffington
MoviePassage to Marseille
1944
as Captain Freycinet
MoviePhantom of the Opera
1943
as Erique Claudin
MovieForever and a Day
1943
as Ambrose Pomfret
MovieCasablanca
1943
as Captain Louis Renault
MovieBreakdowns of 1942
1942
as Self
MovieNow, Voyager
1942
as Dr. Jaquith
MovieMoontide
1942
as Nutsy
MovieKings Row
1942
as Alexander Tower
MovieThe Wolf Man
1941
as Sir John Talbot
MovieBreakdowns of 1941
1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieHere Comes Mr. Jordan
1941
as Mr. Jordan
MovieFour Mothers
1941
as Adam Lemp
MovieLady with Red Hair
1940
as David Belasco
MovieThe Sea Hawk
1940
as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
MovieSaturday's Children
1940
as Mr. Henry Halevy
MovieFour Wives
1939
as Adam Lemp
MovieMr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
as Joseph Paine
MovieDaughters Courageous
1939
as Jim Masters
MovieJuarez
1939
as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
MovieSons of Liberty
1939
as Haym Salomon
MovieThey Made Me a Criminal
1939
as Det. Monty Phelan
MovieBreakdowns of 1938
1938
as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieFour Daughters
1938
as Adam Lemp
MovieWhite Banners
1938
as Paul Ward
MovieThe Adventures of Robin Hood
1938
as Prince John
MovieGold Is Where You Find It
1938
as Colonel Ferris
MovieBreakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self
MovieThey Won't Forget
1937
as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
MovieThe Prince and the Pauper
1937
as Earl of Hertford
MovieStolen Holiday
1937
as Stefan Orloff
MovieBreakdowns of 1936
1936
as Self
MovieAnthony Adverse
1936
as Marquis Don Luis
MovieHearts Divided
1936
as Napoleon Bonaparte
MovieThe Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936
MovieScrooge
1935
as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
MovieThe Last Outpost
1935
as John Stevenson
MovieThe Clairvoyant
1935
as Maximus
MovieThe Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935
as John Jasper
MovieThe Man Who Reclaimed His Head
1934
as Paul Verin
MovieCrime Without Passion
1934
as Lee Gentry
MovieThe Invisible Man
1933
as Dr. Jack Griffin
MovieBuild Thy House
1920
as Clarkis
