Claude Rains
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".
The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt...
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Casablanca
as Captain Louis RenaultIn Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover,...
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The Invisible Man
as Dr. Jack GriffinWorking in Dr. Cranley's laboratory, scientist Jack Griffin was always given the latitude to...
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as King HerodFrom his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Christ is...
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as Alexander SebastianIn order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia...
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Joseph PaineAfter the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his...
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as Prince JohnRobin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win...
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as Sir John TalbotAfter his brother's death, Larry Talbot returns home to his father and the family estate. Events...
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as Prof. George Edward ChallengerProfessor Challenger leads an expedition of scientists and adventurers to a remote plateau deep...
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as Don José Alvarez de CordobaDashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love...
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as Earl of HertfordTwo boys – the prince Edward and the pauper Tom – are born on the same day. Years later, when...
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as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas,...
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as Philippe RambeauSet during the Prohibition era, when wine makers were financially challenged and had to decide...
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as SelfFlubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1936.
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Breakdowns of 1938
as Claude Rains (archive footage) (uncredited)Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1938.
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as Elisha HuntIn 1906 in Connecticut, Elisha Hunt, the 55-year-old curator of a small government museum,...
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Breakdowns of 1942
as SelfFlubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1942.
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as Napoleon BonaparteNapoleon Bonaparte's younger brother, visiting the United States, falls madly in love with a...
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Blow-Ups of 1946
as SelfFlubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1946.
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Four Wives
as Adam LempIn this sequel to Four Daughters, Ann struggles to move on after the death of her husband as...
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Saturday's Children
as Mr. Henry HalevyAn inventor and his bride get testy in the city as they try to make ends meet.
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Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
as Self (archive footage)Starting with "The Wolf Man" (in 1941), Universal Studios made five movies featuring The Wolf...
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The Man Who Reclaimed His Head
as Paul VerinA writer discovers he's being used as a pawn by greedy businessmen.
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Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
as Self (archive footage)Famous Monster takes a fast-paced, colorful look at the life of science fiction's greatest fan -...
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Crime Without Passion
as Lee GentryCaddish lawyer Lee Gentry is going out with Katy Costello, but carrying on an affair with dancer...
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as SelfFlubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1937.
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This Love of Ours
as Joseph TargelAt a convention, medical researcher Michel Touzac goes with colleagues to see stage caricaturist...
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as John JasperA choirmaster addicted to opium and obsessed with a beautiful young woman will stop at nothing...
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as David BelascoAn actress hopes to regain her lost son by making it to the top.
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as Art HarperA young lawyer defends a drifter accused of murder that he has already confessed to. He asks a...
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The Last Outpost
as John StevensonDuring WW1, the destinies of British officers Michael Andrews and John Stevenson seem...
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Sons of Liberty
as Haym SalomonSet during the American Revolution, this colorful 2 reel short tells the story of Haym Salomon,...
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Breakdowns of 1941
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1941.
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Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
as Self (archive footage)Uncensored. Laugh along with Hollywood's brightest stars in this hilarious compilation of...
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Stolen Holiday
as Stefan OrloffA young model is set up with her own fashion business by a crooked financier, who sells...
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The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked
as Erique Claudin (archive footage)A documentary from Universal about their Phantom of the Opera movies.
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Strange Holiday
as John StevensonAn American businessman returns from a hunting trip to find fascists have overrun the country in...
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as ClarkisA padre, acting for a dying soldier, poses as the heir to a slum property and becomes a Labour MP.
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The Making of a Great Motion Picture
as uncreditedNarrated documentary of the making of Anthony Adverse (1936), featuring many clips from the...
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as Judge Dan HaywoodJudgment at Nuremberg is an American television play broadcast live on April 16, 1959, as part...
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as Edward FredericksThe story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession,...
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Rawhide
as Alexander LongfordThe tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across...
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Naked City
as John Winfield WestonNaked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network....
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as Dr. Jack Griffin/The Invisible ManThe host Svengoolie talks about various horror movies while showing the movies, one per episode,...
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Playhouse 90
as Judge Dan HaywoodPlayhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to...
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The Ed Sullivan Show
as SelfThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...
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Sam Benedict
as uncreditedSam Benedict is an American legal drama that aired on NBC from September 1962 to March 1963. The...
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Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as John FabianA television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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as Charles GreshamA television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Andrew ThurgoodA television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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as Father AmionA television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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as Leonard EldridgeA television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Alexander Sebastian (archive footage) (uncredited)A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
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as Mr. BrinkHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...
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as The High LamaHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...
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