1889-11-09 ( 135 years old ) in Clapham, London, England, UK
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".
Movies
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013-01-29
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
2007-05-16
The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
2000-01-01
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
1996-04-06
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1988-11-22
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983-02-25
The Horror Show
1979-02-06
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965-04-09
Twilight of Honor
1963-11-13
Lawrence of Arabia
1962-12-11
Battle of the Worlds
1961-10-30
The Lost World
1960-07-13
This Earth Is Mine
1959-07-08
Judgment at Nuremberg
1959-04-16
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1957-11-26
On Borrowed Time
1957-11-17
Lisbon
1956-08-17
The Man Who Watched Trains Go By
1952-12-01
Sealed Cargo
1951-05-19
Where Danger Lives
1950-11-16
The White Tower
1950-06-24
Song of Surrender
1949-10-27
Rope of Sand
1949-08-03
The Passionate Friends
1949-01-26
The Unsuspected
1947-10-11
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946-12-31
Deception
1946-10-26
Angel on My Shoulder
1946-09-20
Notorious
1946-08-21
Caesar and Cleopatra
1945-12-11
This Love of Ours
1945-11-02
Strange Holiday
1945-10-19
Mr. Skeffington
1944-05-25
Passage to Marseille
1944-03-11
Phantom of the Opera
1943-08-12
Forever and a Day
1943-01-21
Casablanca
1943-01-15
Breakdowns of 1942
1942-12-31
Now, Voyager
1942-10-22
Moontide
1942-05-29
Kings Row
1942-02-02
The Wolf Man
1941-12-12
Breakdowns of 1941
1941-11-14
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941-08-07
Four Mothers
1941-01-04
Lady with Red Hair
1940-11-30
The Sea Hawk
1940-08-10
Saturday's Children
1940-05-04
Four Wives
1939-12-22
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939-10-19
Daughters Courageous
1939-06-23
Juarez
1939-06-10
Sons of Liberty
1939-05-20
They Made Me a Criminal
1939-01-21
Breakdowns of 1938
1938-12-31
Four Daughters
1938-08-09
White Banners
1938-06-23
The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938-05-13
Gold Is Where You Find It
1938-02-12
Breakdowns of 1937
1937-12-31
They Won't Forget
1937-07-14
The Prince and the Pauper
1937-04-30
Stolen Holiday
1937-02-06
Breakdowns of 1936
1936-12-30
Anthony Adverse
1936-08-26
Hearts Divided
1936-06-20
The Making of a Great Motion Picture
1936-04-15
Scrooge
1935-11-26
The Last Outpost
1935-10-11
The Clairvoyant
1935-06-07
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935-02-04
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
1934-12-24
Crime Without Passion
1934-08-30
The Invisible Man
1933-11-03
Build Thy House
1920-10-01
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