Claude Rains

Claude Rains

Claude Rains in Now, Voyager (1942)
Born William Claude Rains
10 November 1889(1889-11-10)
Camberwell, London, England
Died 30 May 1967(1967-05-30) (aged 77)
Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1920–1966
Spouse Isabel Jeans (1913-1915) (divorce)
Marie Hemingway (1920-1920) (divorce)
Beatriz Thomas (1924-1935) (divorce)
Frances Propper (1935-1956) (divorce)
Agi Jambor (1959-1960) (divorce)
Rosemary Clark Schrode (1960-1964) (her death)

Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was a English-American 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 notable performance, as Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942).

Contents

Early life

Rains was born William Claude Rains in Camberwell, London. He grew up, according to his daughter, with "a very serious cockney accent and a speech impediment".[1] His father was British stage actor Frederick Rains, and the young Rains made his stage debut at 11 in Nell of Old Drury.[2]

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,[3] 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.

Career

Rains in Camel through the Eye's Needle, Broadway, New York City, 1929

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.[1] 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".[4]

Following The Invisible Man, Universal Studios tried to typecast him in horror films, but he broke free, starting with the role of Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), then with his Academy Award-nominated performance as the conflicted corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and followed with probably his most famous role, the flexible French police Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942). In 1943, Rains played the title character in Universal's full-color remake of Phantom of the Opera. Bette Davis named him her favorite co-star, and they made four films together, including Mr. Skeffington and Now, Voyager. Rains became the first actor to receive a million dollar salary, playing Julius Caesar in Gabriel Pascal's lavish and unsuccessful version of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), made in Britain. In 1946, he played a refugee Nazi agent opposite Cary Grant and Casablanca co-star Ingrid Bergman in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. In 1949, he appeared in David Lean's The Passionate Friends.

His only singing and dancing role was in a television musical version of Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin, with Van Johnson as the Piper. This 1957 NBC color special, shown as a film rather than a live or videotaped program, was highly successful with the public. Sold into syndication after its first telecast, it was repeated annually by many local 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). The latter was his final film role.

Claude Rains in Notorious (1946)

Recordings

Rains made several audio recordings, narrating a few Bible stories for children on Capitol Records, and reciting Richard Strauss's setting for narrator and piano accompaniment of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem Enoch Arden, with the piano solos played by Glenn Gould. This recording was made by Columbia Masterworks Records.

Personal life

Rains became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939. He married six times, the first five of which ended in divorce: Isabel Jeans (1913–1915); Marie Hemingway (1920, for less than a year); Beatrix Thomson (1924 – April 8, 1935); Frances Propper (April 9, 1935–1956); and to classic pianist Agi Jambor (November 4, 1959–1960). He married Rosemary Clark Schrode in 1960, and stayed with her until her death on December 31, 1964. His only child, Jessica Rains, was born to him and Propper on January 24, 1938.

He acquired the 380 acre Stock Grange Farm in West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania just outside West Chester in 1941, and spent much of his time between takes reading up on agricultural techniques. He eventually sold the farm when his marriage to Propper ended in 1956.

Rains died from an abdominal hemorrhage in Laconia, New Hampshire on May 30, 1967 at the age of 77. He is interred in the Red Hill Cemetery, Moultonborough, New Hampshire.

Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, a biography by David J. Skal and Rains' daughter Jessica Rains, was published in 2008.

Awards and nominations

In 1951, Rains won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Darkness at Noon. He was also nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Casablanca (1942), Mr. Skeffington (1944), and Notorious (1946).

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography

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 Stuart Walker (filmmaker)Stuart 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
(Two-reel short)		 Haym Salomon Curtiz, MichaelMichael Curtiz Gale Sondergaard Technicolor
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 Color
1962 Lawrence of Arabia Mr. Dryden Lean, DavidDavid Lean Peter O'Toole, Alec Guiness, 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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harmetz p. 147.
  2. ↑ "The Sublime Claude Rains". meredy.com. http://www.meredy.com/clauderains/cr-bio.html. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 
  3. ↑ londonscottishregt.org
  4. ↑ Harmetz p. 190.

Bibliography

External links

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

José Ferrer / Fredric March (1947) · Henry Fonda / Paul Kelly / Basil Rathbone (1948) · Rex Harrison (1949) · Sidney Blackmer (1950) · Claude Rains (1951) · José Ferrer (1952) · Tom Ewell (1953) · David Wayne (1954) · Alfred Lunt (1955) · Paul Muni (1956) · Fredric March (1957) · Ralph Bellamy (1958) · Jason Robards, Jr. (1959) · Melvyn Douglas (1960) · Zero Mostel (1961) · Paul Scofield (1962) · Arthur Hill (1963) · Alec Guinness (1964) · Walter Matthau (1965) · Hal Holbrook (1966) · Paul Rogers (1967) · Martin Balsam (1968) · James Earl Jones (1969) · Fritz Weaver (1970) · Brian Bedford (1971) · Cliff Gorman (1972) · Alan Bates (1973) · Michael Moriarty (1974) · John Kani / Winston Ntshona (1975)

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