Claude Rains

Also Known As: William Claude Rains, کلود رینس

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".

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Clapham, London, England, UK

Adult: No

Birthday: November 09, 1889

Age: 135 years old

Gender: Male

Deathday: May 30, 1967

Popularity:

2.84%

Known For:

Casablanca
Notorious
Lawrence of Arabia
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Lost World
The Invisible Man
Where Danger Lives
Caesar and Cleopatra
Angel on My Shoulder
Battle of the Worlds
Deception
They Made Me a Criminal
Now, Voyager
The Sea Hawk
The Horror Show
Crime Without Passion
The Wolf Man
The Unsuspected
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
Moontide
The Prince and the Pauper
Mr. Skeffington
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
Forever and a Day
Rope of Sand
Anthony Adverse
Phantom of the Opera
Build Thy House
The Clairvoyant
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Four Daughters
Passage to Marseille
They Won't Forget
The Passionate Friends
Breakdowns of 1941
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Kings Row
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The White Tower
The Last Outpost
Juarez
Lady with Red Hair
White Banners
Four Wives
Strange Holiday
This Earth Is Mine
Daughters Courageous
Four Mothers
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Saturday's Children
Twilight of Honor
Hearts Divided
Stolen Holiday
Sealed Cargo
This Love of Ours
Gold Is Where You Find It
Lisbon
Sons of Liberty
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
Song of Surrender
Breakdowns of 1936
Breakdowns of 1937
Blow-Ups of 1946
Breakdowns of 1938
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Scrooge
On Borrowed Time
Breakdowns of 1942
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Judgment at Nuremberg