Born: November 10, 1889
Died: May 30, 1967 (at age 77)
Birthplace: Camberwell, London, England, United Kingdom
William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 - 30 May 1967) was an English actor of stage and screen whose career spanned 46 years. After his American film debut with The Invisible Man (1933) he played in classic films like The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca (1942; as Captain Renault), Notorious (1946), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). He was a four-time nominee for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, but never won. Rains was considered to be "one of the screen's great character stars" with an extraordinary voice who was, according to the All-Movie Guide, "at his best when playing cultured villains".
Rains was born in Camberwell, London. According to his daughter, he grew up with "a very serious Cockney accent and a speech impediment". His parents were Emily Eliza (née Cox) and the actor Frederick William Rains. Rains made his stage debut at the age of 11 in the play Nell of Old Drury.
His acting talents were recognised by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, the founder of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Tree paid for the elocution lessons that Rains needed to succeed as an actor. Later, Rains taught at RADA, where his students included John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier. Many years later, after Rains had gone to Hollywood and become a well-known film actor, Gielgud commented: "He was a great influence on me. I don't know what happened to him. I think he failed and went to America."
Rains served in the First World War in the London Scottish Regiment, alongside fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall. At one time, he was involved in a gas attack that left him nearly blind in one eye for the rest of his life. By the end of the war, he had risen from the rank of Private to that of Captain.
Rains began his career in London theatre, achieving success in the title role of John Drinkwater's play Ulysses S. Grant, the follow-up to the same playwright's Abraham Lincoln. He moved to Broadway in the late 1920s to act in leading roles in such plays as Bernard Shaw's The Apple Cart and the dramatisations of The Constant Nymph and Pearl S. Buck's novel The Good Earth (as a Chinese farmer).
Although he had played a single supporting role in a silent, Build Thy House (1920), Rains came relatively late to film acting, His screen test for A Bill of Divorcement (1932) for a New York representative of RKO was a failure but, according to some accounts, led to him being cast in the title role of James Whale's The Invisible Man (1933) after his screen test was inadvertently overheard from the next room. His agent though, Harold Freedman, had a strong connection with the Laemmle family, who controlled Universal Studios at the time, and Whale himself had been acquainted with Rains in London and was keen to cast him in the role.
Rains signed a long term contract with Warner Bros. on 27 November 1935 with Warner able to exercise the right to loan him to other studios and Rains having a potential income of up to $750,000 over 7 years. He played the villainous role of Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Rains later credited the film's co-director Michael Curtiz with teaching him the more understated requirements of film acting, or "what not to do in front of a camera." On loan to Columbia Pictures, he performed the role of the corrupt American senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) for which he received his first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. For his home studio, Warner Bros, he played the murderer Dr. Alexander Tower in Kings Row (1942) and the cynical police chief Captain Renault in Casablanca (also 1942). On loan again, Rains played the title character in Universal's remake of Phantom of the Opera (1943).
Bette Davis named him her favourite co-star, and they made four films together, including Now, Voyager (1942) and Mr. Skeffington (1944). Rains became the first actor to receive a million-dollar salary, when he portrayed Julius Caesar in a large budget but unsuccessful version of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), filmed in Britain. Shaw apparently chose him for the part, although Rains intensely disliked Gabriel Pascal, the film's director and producer. He followed it with Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946) as a refugee Nazi agent opposite Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Back in Britain, he appeared in David Lean's The Passionate Friends (1949).
His only singing and dancing role was in a 1957 television musical version of Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin, with Van Johnson as the Piper. The NBC colour special, broadcast as a film rather than a live or videotaped programme, was highly successful with the public. Sold into syndication after its first telecast, it was repeated annually by many local US TV stations.
Rains remained a popular character actor in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in many films. Two of his well-known later screen roles were as Dryden, a cynical British diplomat in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and King Herod in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), his last film.
In 1963 he portrayed Alexander Langford, an attorney in a ghost town, in the episode "Incident of Judgement Day" on CBS's Rawhide.
He additionally made several audio recordings, narrating some Bible stories for children on Capitol Records, and reciting Richard Strauss's setting for narrator and piano of Tennyson's poem Enoch Arden, with the piano solos performed by Glenn Gould. He starred in The Jeffersonian Heritage, a 1952 series of 13 half-hour radio programmes recorded by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters and syndicated for commercial broadcast on a sustaining (i.e., commercial-free) basis.
Rains became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939. He married six times, and was divorced from the first five of his wives: Isabel Jeans (married 1913-1915); Marie Hemingway (to whom Rains was married for less than a year in 1920); Beatrix Thomson (1924-8 April 1935); Frances Propper (9 April 1935 - 1956); and the classical pianist Agi Jambor (4 November 1959 - 1960). In 1960, he married Rosemary Clark Schrode, to whom he was married until her death on 31 December 1964. His only child, Jessica Rains, was born to him and Propper on 24 January 1938.
He acquired the 380-acre (1.5 km2) Stock Grange Farm in West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania (just outside Coatesville) in 1941, and spent much of his time between film takes reading up on agricultural techniques. He sold the farm when his marriage to Propper ended in 1956. Rains spent his final years in Sandwich, New Hampshire. He died from an abdominal haemorrhage in Laconia on 30 May 1967, aged 77. He was buried at the Red Hill Cemetery in Moultonborough, New Hampshire.
Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, a biography by David J. Skal and Rains' daughter Jessica, was published in 2008.
In 1951, Rains won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Darkness at Noon. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on four occasions: for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Casablanca (1942), Mr. Skeffington (1944) and Notorious (1946). Rains has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard.
Year | Title | Role | Director | Other cast members | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1920 | Build Thy House | Clarkis | Goodwins, FredFred Goodwins | Henry Ainley | |
1933 | The Invisible Man | Dr. Jack Griffin/The Invisible Man | Whale, JamesJames Whale | Gloria Stuart, Henry Travers, Una O'Connor | |
1934 | The Clairvoyant | Maximus | Elvey, MauriceMaurice Elvey | Fay Wray | |
1934 | Crime Without Passion | Lee Gentry | Hecht, BenBen Hecht, Charles MacArthur | Margo, Whitney Bourne | |
1934 | The Man Who Reclaimed His Head | Paul Verin | Ludwig, EdwardEdward Ludwig | Lionel Atwill, Joan Bennett | |
1935 | The Last Outpost | John Stevenson | Gasnier, LouisLouis Gasnier, Charles Barton | Cary Grant | |
1935 | The Mystery of Edwin Drood | John Jasper | Walker, StuartStuart Walker | Douglass Montgomery, Heather Angel, David Manners | |
1936 | Hearts Divided | Napoleon Bonaparte | Borzage, FrankFrank Borzage | Marion Davies, Dick Powell, Charlie Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton | |
1936 | Anthony Adverse | Marquis Don Luis | LeRoy, MervynMervyn LeRoy | Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Gale Sondergaard | |
1937 | Stolen Holiday | Stefan Orloff | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Kay Francis, Ian Hunter | |
1937 | The Prince and the Pauper | Earl of Hertford | Keighley, WilliamWilliam Keighley | Errol Flynn, Billy and Bobby Mauch | |
1937 | They Won't Forget | Dist. Atty. Andrew J. "Andy" Griffin | LeRoy, MervynMervyn LeRoy | Gloria Dickson, Lana Turner | |
1938 | White Banners | Paul Ward | Goulding, EdmundEdmund Goulding | Fay Bainter, Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville, Henry O'Neill, Kay Johnson | |
1938 | Gold is Where You Find It | Colonel Christopher "Chris" Ferris | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | George Brent, Olivia de Havilland, Tim Holt | Technicolor |
1938 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Prince John | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz, William Keighley | Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone | Technicolor |
1938 | Four Daughters | Adam Lemp | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Rosemary, Lola, and Priscilla Lane, Gale Page, John Garfield | |
1939 | They Made Me a Criminal | Det. Monty Phelan | Berkeley, BusbyBusby Berkeley | John Garfield, Gloria Dickson, May Robson | |
1939 | Juarez | Emperor Louis Napoleon III | Dieterle, WilliamWilliam Dieterle | Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, John Garfield | |
1939 | Sons of Liberty | Haym Salomon | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Gale Sondergaard | Technicolor; two-reel short |
1939 | Daughters Courageous | Jim Masters | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Rosemary, Lola, and Priscilla Lane, Gale Page, John Garfield | |
1939 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Sen. Joseph Harrison Paine | Capra, FrankFrank Capra | Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Thomas Mitchell | Nomination—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1939 | Four Wives | Adam Lemp | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Eddie Albert, Rosemary, Lola, and Priscilla Lane, Gale Page, John Garfield | |
1940 | Saturday's Children | Mr. Henry Halevy | Sherman, VincentVincent Sherman | John Garfield, Anne Shirley | |
1940 | The Sea Hawk | Don José Alvarez de Córdoba | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Henry Daniell, Flora Robson, Alan Hale | Sepia tone (sequence) |
1940 | Lady with Red Hair | David Belasco | Bernhardt, CurtisCurtis Bernhardt | Miriam Hopkins, Laura Hope Crews | |
1941 | Four Mothers | Adam Lemp | Keighley, WilliamWilliam Keighley | Rosemary, Lola, and Priscilla Lane, Gale Page | |
1941 | Here Comes Mr. Jordan | Mr. Jordan | Hall, AlexanderAlexander Hall | Robert Montgomery, Evelyn Keyes, Edward Everett Horton | |
1941 | The Wolf Man | Sir John Talbot | Waggner, GeorgeGeorge Waggner | Lon Chaney, Jr., Evelyn Ankers, Patric Knowles, Ralph Bellamy, Warren William, Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya | |
1942 | Kings Row | Dr. Alexander Tower | Wood, SamSam Wood | Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan, Betty Field, Charles Coburn | |
1942 | Moontide | Nutsy | Mayo, ArchieArchie Mayo | Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell | |
1942 | Now, Voyager | Dr. Jaquith | Rapper, IrvingIrving Rapper | Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Gladys Cooper | |
1942 | Casablanca | Capt. Louis Renault | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Conrad Veidt, S.Z. Sakall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Dooley Wilson | Nomination—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1943 | Forever and a Day | Ambrose Pomfret | Wilcox, HerbertHerbert Wilcox (sequence with Rains) |
Anna Neagle, Ray Milland, C. Aubrey Smith | |
1943 | Phantom of the Opera | Erique Claudin/The Phantom of the Opera | Lubin, ArthurArthur Lubin | Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster | Technicolor |
1944 | Passage to Marseille | Captain Freycinet | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Humphrey Bogart, Michèle Morgan, Philip Dorn, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Helmut Dantine | |
1944 | Mr. Skeffington | Job Skeffington | Sherman, VincentVincent Sherman | Bette Davis, Walter Abel, George Coulouris, Richard Waring | Nomination—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1945 | Strange Holiday | John Stevenson | Duvivier, JulienJulien Duvivier | Jean Gabin, Richard Whorf, Allyn Joslyn, Ellen Drew | |
1945 | This Love of Ours | Joseph Targel | Dieterle, WilliamWilliam Dieterle | Merle Oberon | |
1945 | Caesar and Cleopatra | Julius Caesar | Pascal, GabrielGabriel Pascal | Vivien Leigh, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson | Technicolor |
1946 | Notorious | Alex Sebastian | Hitchcock, AlfredAlfred Hitchcock | Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Louis Calhern | Nomination—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
1946 | Angel on My Shoulder | Nick | Mayo, ArchieArchie Mayo | Paul Muni, Anne Baxter | |
1946 | Deception | Alexander Hollenius | Rapper, IrvingIrving Rapper | Bette Davis, Paul Henreid | |
1947 | The Unsuspected | Victor Grandison | Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz | Joan Caulfield, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennett, Hurd Hatfield | |
1949 | The Passionate Friends | Howard Justin | Lean, DavidDavid Lean | Ann Todd, Trevor Howard | |
1949 | Rope of Sand | Arthur "Fred" Martingale | Dieterle, WilliamWilliam Dieterle | Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre | |
1949 | Song of Surrender | Elisha Hunt | Leisen, MitchellMitchell Leisen | Wanda Hendrix, Macdonald Carey | |
1950 | The White Tower | Paul DeLambre | Tetzlaff, TedTed Tetzlaff | Glenn Ford, Alida Valli, Oskar Homolka, Cedric Hardwicke, Lloyd Bridges | Technicolor |
1950 | Where Danger Lives | Frederick Lannington | Farrow, JohnJohn Farrow | Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Maureen O'Sullivan | |
1951 | Sealed Cargo | Captain Skalder | Werker, Alfred L.Alfred L. Werker | Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges | |
1953 | The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By | Kees Popinga | French, HaroldHarold French | Märta Torén, Marius Goring | Technicolor |
1956 | Lisbon | Aristides Mavros | Milland, RayRay Milland | Ray Milland, Maureen O'Hara | Trucolor Naturama |
1957 | The Pied Piper of Hamelin | The Mayor of Hamelin | Windust, BretaigneBretaigne Windust | Van Johnson, Lori Nelson | Technicolor |
1959 | This Earth Is Mine | Philippe Rambeau | King, HenryHenry King | Rock Hudson, Jean Simmons, Dorothy McGuire | Technicolor CinemaScope |
1960 | The Lost World | Professor George Edward Challenger | Allen, IrwinIrwin Allen | Michael Rennie, Jill St. John, David Hedison, Fernando Lamas, Richard Haydn | Deluxe color CinemaScope |
1961 | Battle of the Worlds | Professor Benson | Margheriti, AntonioAntonio Margheriti | Bill Carter | Colour |
1962 | Lawrence of Arabia | Mr. Dryden | Lean, DavidDavid Lean | Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle, Arthur Kennedy, José Ferrer | Technicolor Super Panavision 70 |
1963 | Twilight of Honor | Art Harper | Sagal, BorisBoris Sagal | Richard Chamberlain, Nick Adams, Joey Heatherton, Linda Evans | |
1965 | The Greatest Story Ever Told | Herod the Great | Stevens, GeorgeGeorge Stevens | Max von Sydow, plus many cameos | Technicolor Ultra Panavision 70 |
Year | Programme | Episode/source |
---|---|---|
1952 | Cavalcade of America | Three Words |