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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
November 9, 1889
Died
May 30, 1967
Place of Birth
Clapham, London, England, UK
Also Known As
- William Claude Rains
- کلود رینس
Claude Rains
0.8 Popularity
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
5.5
Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
9.0
Self (archive footage)
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
2007
8.0
Erique Claudin (archive footage)
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
2000
6.9
Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
6.7
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996
8.5
Dr. Jack Griffin/The Invisible Man
Svengoolie
1995
6.0
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1988
6.5
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
4.3
(archive footage)
The Horror Show
1979
6.4
King Herod
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
Credits
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
as Self (archive footage)
2013
5.5
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
as Self (archive footage)
2007
9.0
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
as Erique Claudin (archive footage)
2000
8.0
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
as Self (archive footage)
1999
6.9
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
as Self (archive footage)
1996
6.7
Svengoolie
as Dr. Jack Griffin/The Invisible Man
1995
8.5
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
as Self (archive footage)
1988
6.0
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
6.5
The Horror Show
as (archive footage)
1979
4.3
The Greatest Story Ever Told
as King Herod
1965
6.4
Twilight of Honor
as Art Harper
1963
6.8
Lawrence of Arabia
as Mr. Dryden
1962
8.0
Sam Benedict
1962
6.0
Battle of the Worlds
as Professor Benson
1961
4.5
Dr. Kildare
as Edward Fredericks
1961
5.5
The Lost World
as Prof. George Edward Challenger
1960
5.7
This Earth Is Mine
as Philippe Rambeau
1959
6.1
Judgment at Nuremberg
as Judge Dan Haywood
1959
0.0
Rawhide
as Alexander Longford
1959
7.2
Naked City
as John Winfield Weston
1958
5.5
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
as Mayor of Hamelin
1957
5.3
🎬
On Borrowed Time
as Mr. Brink
1957
0.0
Playhouse 90
as Judge Dan Haywood
1956
7.6
Lisbon
as Aristides Mavros
1956
6.4
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as John Fabian
1955
7.7
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Charles Gresham
1955
7.7
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Andrew Thurgood
1955
7.7
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Father Amion
1955
7.7
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Leonard Eldridge
1955
7.7
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
as Kees Popinga
1952
6.0
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Mr. Brink
1951
8.6
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as The High Lama
1951
8.6
Sealed Cargo
as Capt. Henrik Skalder
1951
6.4
Where Danger Lives
as Frederick Lannington
1950
6.4
The White Tower
as Paul Delambre
1950
5.5
Song of Surrender
as Elisha Hunt
1949
0.0
Rope of Sand
as Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
1949
5.7
The Passionate Friends
as Howard Justin
1949
7.0
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
6.8
The Unsuspected
as Victor Grandison
1947
6.7
Blow-Ups of 1946
as Self
1946
6.0
Deception
as Alexander Hollenius
1946
6.5
Angel on My Shoulder
as Nick
1946
6.4
Notorious
as Alexander Sebastian
1946
7.7
Caesar and Cleopatra
as Julius Caesar
1945
6.1
This Love of Ours
as Joseph Targel
1945
5.7
Strange Holiday
as John Stevenson
1945
6.4
Mr. Skeffington
as Job Skeffington
1944
6.7
Passage to Marseille
as Captain Freycinet
1944
6.6
Phantom of the Opera
as Erique Claudin
1943
6.2
Forever and a Day
as Ambrose Pomfret
1943
7.4
Casablanca
as Captain Louis Renault
1943
8.2
Breakdowns of 1942
as Self
1942
6.0
Now, Voyager
as Dr. Jaquith
1942
7.4
Moontide
as Nutsy
1942
6.4
Kings Row
as Alexander Tower
1942
7.2
The Wolf Man
as Sir John Talbot
1941
7.0
Breakdowns of 1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
7.0
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
as Mr. Jordan
1941
7.0
Four Mothers
as Adam Lemp
1941
6.2
Lady with Red Hair
as David Belasco
1940
6.5
The Sea Hawk
as Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
1940
7.1
Saturday's Children
as Mr. Henry Halevy
1940
6.4
Four Wives
as Adam Lemp
1939
5.3
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Joseph Paine
1939
7.9
Daughters Courageous
as Jim Masters
1939
6.2
Juarez
as Emperor Louis Napoleon III
1939
6.5
Sons of Liberty
as Haym Salomon
1939
6.2
They Made Me a Criminal
as Det. Monty Phelan
1939
6.1
Breakdowns of 1938
as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
1938
5.0
Four Daughters
as Adam Lemp
1938
6.6
White Banners
as Paul Ward
1938
5.8
The Adventures of Robin Hood
as Prince John
1938
7.5
Gold Is Where You Find It
as Colonel Ferris
1938
6.9
Breakdowns of 1937
as Self
1937
6.0
They Won't Forget
as District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
1937
5.7
The Prince and the Pauper
as Earl of Hertford
1937
6.8
Stolen Holiday
as Stefan Orloff
1937
6.6
Breakdowns of 1936
as Self
1936
0.0
Anthony Adverse
as Marquis Don Luis
1936
5.8
Hearts Divided
as Napoleon Bonaparte
1936
5.0
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936
5.0
Scrooge
as Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
1935
6.0
The Last Outpost
as John Stevenson
1935
6.1
The Clairvoyant
as Maximus
1935
6.0
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
as John Jasper
1935
5.5
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
as Paul Verin
1934
6.0
Crime Without Passion
as Lee Gentry
1934
5.8
The Invisible Man
as Dr. Jack Griffin
1933
7.5
Build Thy House
as Clarkis
1920
0.0