Claude Rains

Acting · Born 1889-11-10 in Clapham, London, England, UK

Biography

Claude Rains 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…

Filmography

• Casablanca as Captain Louis Renault
• Notorious as Alexander Sebastian
• Lawrence of Arabia as Mr. Dryden
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Joseph Paine
• The Greatest Story Ever Told as King Herod
• The Lost World as Prof. George Edward Challenger
• The Adventures of Robin Hood as Prince John
• The Invisible Man as Dr. Jack Griffin
• Where Danger Lives as Mr. Lannington
• Caesar and Cleopatra as Julius Caesar