Claude Rains (November 10, 1889 – May 30, 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 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".

Filmography

• 2000The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked — Erique Claudin (archive footage)
• 1991Halloween Monster Bash — Maximus (archive footage)
• 1979The Horror Show — (archive footage)
• 1965The Greatest Story Ever Told — King Herod
• 1963Twilight of Honor — Art Harper
• 1962Lawrence of Arabia — Mr. Dryden
• Sam Benedict
• 1961Battle of the Worlds — Professor Benson
• Dr. Kildare — Edward Fredericks
• 1960The Lost World — Prof. George Edward Challenger
• 1959Judgment at Nuremberg — Judge Dan Haywood
• Rawhide — Alexander Longford
• 1959This Earth Is Mine — Philippe Rambeau
• Naked City — John Winfield Weston
• 1957On Borrowed Time — Mr. Brink
• 1957The Pied Piper of Hamelin — Mayor of Hamelin
• 1956Lisbon — Aristides Mavros
• Playhouse 90 — Judge Dan Haywood
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — John Fabian, Charles Gresham, Andrew Thurgood, Father Amion, Leonard Eldridge
• 1952The Man Who Watched Trains Go By — Kees Popinga
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Mr. Brink, The High Lama
• 1951Sealed Cargo — Capt. Henrik Skalder
• 1950The White Tower — Paul Delambre
• 1950Where Danger Lives — Mr. Lannington
• 1949Rope of Sand — Arthur 'Fred' Martingale
• 1949Song of Surrender — Elisha Hunt
• 1949The Passionate Friends — Howard Justin
• 1947The Unsuspected — Victor Grandison
• 1946Angel on My Shoulder — "Nick"
• 1946Deception — Alexander Hollenius
• 1946Notorious — Alexander Sebastian
• 1945Caesar and Cleopatra — Julius Caesar
• 1945Strange Holiday — John Stevenson
• 1945This Love of Ours — Joseph Targel
• 1944Mr. Skeffington — Job Skeffington
• 1944Passage to Marseille — Capt. Freycinet
• 1943Casablanca — Captain Louis Renault
• 1943Forever and a Day — Ambrose Pomfret
• 1943Phantom of the Opera — Erique Claudin
• 1942Kings Row — Alexander Tower
• 1942Moontide — Nutsy
• 1942Now, Voyager — Dr. Jaquith
• 1941Four Mothers — Adam Lemp
• 1941Here Comes Mr. Jordan — Mr. Jordan
• 1941The Wolf Man — Sir John Talbot
• 1940Lady with Red Hair — David Belasco
• 1940Saturday's Children — Mr. Henry Halevy
• 1940The Sea Hawk — Don José Alvarez de Cordoba
• 1939Daughters Courageous — Jim Masters
• 1939Four Wives — Adam Lemp
• 1939Juarez — Emperor Louis Napoleon III
• 1939Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Joseph Paine
• 1939Sons of Liberty — Haym Salomon
• 1939They Made Me a Criminal — Det. Monty Phelan
• 1938Breakdowns of 1938 — Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1938Four Daughters — Adam Lemp
• 1938Gold Is Where You Find It — Colonel Ferris
• 1938The Adventures of Robin Hood — Prince John
• 1938White Banners — Paul Ward
• 1937Stolen Holiday — Stefan Orloff
• 1937The Prince and the Pauper — Earl of Hertford
• 1937They Won't Forget — District Attorney Andrew J. Griffin
• 1936Anthony Adverse — Marquis Don Luis
• 1936Hearts Divided — Napoleon Bonaparte
• 1936The Making of a Great Motion Picture
• 1935Scrooge — Jacob Marley (voice) (uncredited)
• 1935The Clairvoyant — Maximus
• 1935The Last Outpost — John Stevenson
• 1935The Mystery of Edwin Drood — John Jasper
• 1934Crime Without Passion — Lee Gentry
• 1934The Man Who Reclaimed His Head — Paul Verin
• 1933The Invisible Man — Dr. Jack Griffin
• 1920Build Thy House — Clarkis

Appearances as themselves (12)

• 2013Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored — Self (archive footage)
• 2007Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman — Self (archive footage)
• 1999Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man' — Self (archive footage)
• 1996Ingrid Bergman Remembered — Self (archive footage)
• 1987James Stewart: A Wonderful Life — Self (archive footage)
• 1983Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
• 1946Blow-Ups of 1946 — Self
• 1942Breakdowns of 1942 — Self
• 1941Breakdowns of 1941 — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 1937Breakdowns of 1937 — Self
• 1936Breakdowns of 1936 — Self