Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English-American stage and film actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making an impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic. His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on notable British films of the era, including The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings. Among Laughton's biggest film hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Big Clock. In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the thriller The Night of the Hunter. Daniel Day-Lewis cited Laughton as one of his inspirations, saying: "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor, he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."

Filmography

• 2014Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film — Dr. Moreau (archive footage)
• 1991Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker — actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1988Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies — (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1982Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid — (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
• 1979The Horror Show — (archive footage)
• 1969The Epic That Never Was — Tiberius Claudius (archive footage)
• 1964The Life of Galileo — Translator
• 1962Advise & Consent — Senator Seabright Cooley
• 1960In the Presence of Mine Enemies — Rabbi Adam Heller
• 1960Spartacus — Sempronius Gracchus
• 1960Under Ten Flags — Admiral Russell
• 1957Witness for the Prosecution — Sir Wilfrid
• 1955The Night of the Hunter — Screenplay, Director
• 1954Hobson's Choice — Henry Horatio Hobson
• General Electric Theater — Edwin Kensington, Henry Denry, M. Hamel
• 1953Salome — King Herod
• 1953Young Bess — King Henry VIII
• 1952Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd — Capt. William Kidd
• 1952O. Henry's Full House — Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
• 1951The Blue Veil — Fred K. Begley
• 1951The Strange Door — Sire Alain de Maletroit
• 1949The Bribe — J.J. Bealer
• 1949The Man on the Eiffel Tower — Inspector Jules Maigret
• 1948Arch of Triumph — Ivon Haake
• 1948On Our Merry Way — Reverend
• 1948The Big Clock — Earl Janoth
• 1948The Girl from Manhattan — The Bishop
• 1947Leben des Galilei — Galileo Galilei, Writer
• 1947The Paradine Case — Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
• 1946Because of Him — John Sheridan
• 1945Captain Kidd — Captain Kidd
• 1945The Suspect — Philip Marshall
• 1944The Canterville Ghost — Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
• 1943Forever and a Day — Bellamy
• 1943The Man from Down Under — Jocko Wilson
• 1943This Land Is Mine — Albert Lory
• 1942Stand by for Action — Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
• 1942Tales of Manhattan — Charles Smith
• 1942The Tuttles of Tahiti — Jonas
• 1941It Started with Eve — Jonathan Reynolds
• 1940They Knew What They Wanted — Tony Patucci
• 1939Jamaica Inn — Sir Humphrey Pengallan, Producer
• 1939The Hunchback of Notre Dame — The Hunchback Quasimodo
• 1938St. Martin's Lane — Charles Staggers, Producer, Additional Writing
• 1938Vessel of Wrath — Ginger Ted, Producer
• 1937I, Claudius — Claudius
• 1936Rembrandt — Rembrandt van Rijn
• 1935Les Misérables — Inspector Emile Javert
• 1935Mutiny on the Bounty — Captaine Bligh
• 1935Ruggles of Red Gap — Marmaduke Ruggles
• 1934The Barretts of Wimpole Street — Edward Moulton-Barrett
• 1933The Clerk — Phineas V. Lambert
• 1933The Private Life of Henry VIII — Henry VIII
• 1933White Woman — Horace H. Prin
• 1932Devil and the Deep — Cmdr. Charles Sturm
• 1932If I Had a Million — Phineas V. Lambert
• 1932Island of Lost Souls — Dr. Moreau
• 1932Payment Deferred — William Marble
• 1932The Old Dark House — Sir William Porterhouse
• 1932The Sign of the Cross — Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
• 1931Down River — Captain Grossman
• 1930Wolves — Captain Job
• 1929Piccadilly — A Continental Visitor
• 1928Blue Bottles — Burglar
• 1928Daydreams — Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence
• 1928The Tonic — Father of the Family

Appearances as themselves (22)

• 2028Charmed Lives: A Family Romance — Self (archive footage)
• 2014Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau — Self (archive footage)
• 20091939: Hollywood's Greatest Year — Self (archive footage)
• 2002Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of The Hunter" — Self (archive footage)
• 1999Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' — Self (archive footage)
• 1994Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld — Self (archive footage)
• 1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1982Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! — Self (archive footage)
• 1972Hollywood: The Dream Factory — Self (archive footage)
• Startime — Self – Co-Host
• The Lux Show — Self
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show — Self
• The Steve Allen Show — Self - Guest
• MGM Parade — Self
• The George Gobel Show — Self
• The Jimmy Durante Show — Self
• The Colgate Comedy Hour — Self
• What's My Line? — Self
• 1949The Art Director — Self - from 'The Big Clock' (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
• 1940Cavalcade of the Academy Awards — Self
• 1930Comets — Himself