Claude Rains
Claude Rains | |
|---|---|
| File:Claude Rains in Mr Skeffington trailer.jpg in the Mr. Skeffington trailer (1944) | |
| Born | William Claude Rains |
| Years active | 1920-1965 |
| Spouse(s) | Isabel Jeans (1913-1915) Marie Hemingway (1920-1920) Beatriz Thomas (1924-1935) Frances Propper (1935-1956) Agi Jambor (1959-1960) Rosemary Clark Schrode (1960-1964) |
Claude Rains (November 10, 1889 – May 30, 1967) was an English theatre and film actor, who later held American citizenship, best known for his many roles in Hollywood films.
Biography
Rains was born William Claude Rains (known as 'Willie') in Camberwell, London on November 10, 1889. He grew up with, according to his daughter, "a very serious cockney accent and a speech impediment".[1]
His acting talents were recognized by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, founder of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Tree paid for the elocution lessons that Rains would need to succeed as an actor. Later, Rains taught at the institution, working with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, among others.
Rains served in the First World War with the London Scottish Regiment,[2] alongside fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall; he was involved in a gas attack that left him almost 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.
Having made his name in the theatre, Rains came late to film acting. His first screen test was a failure, but his 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.[3] 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 role as the conflicted corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and followed with probably his most famous role, the suave French police Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942). In 1945, Rains became the first actor to receive a million dollar salary for his role as Julius Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra.
He appeared in his only singing and dancing role, as the Mayor in a television musical version of Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin, opposite 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 '50s and '60s, appearing in many films. Two of his well-known later screen roles were 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.
Personal life
In 1939, Rains became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He married six times, the first five of which ended in divorce: Isabel Jeans (1913 - 1915); Marie Hemingway (1920 - 1920); Beatriz Thomas (1924 – 8 April 1935); Frances Propper (9 April 1935 – 1956); Agi Jambor (4 November 1959 – 1960); and to Rosemary Clark Schrode (1960 – 31 December 1964) (her death).
He acquired the 380-acre Stock Grange Farm in West Bradford Township just outside West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1941, and spent much of his time between takes reading up on agricultural techniques. He eventually sold the farm when his marriage to Frances Propper ended in 1956.
Rains died from an internal haemorrhage, in Laconia, New Hampshire at the age of 77. He is interred in the Red Hill Cemetery, Moultonborough, New Hampshire.
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, Casablanca, Mr. Skeffington and Notorious. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard.
Popular references
In 1975, both Rains, and his memorable role as the Invisible Man was referenced in the opening song to the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The New Zealand band The Front Lawn wrote a song named after him with the lyrics, "Claude Rains gave the order / To collect the usual suspects / And the camera came in close up on his face / He watched as the plane left the airstrip / Like hope leaves a dying man / But he hung onto the choice he'd made".
Filmography
|
|
Notes
- ^ Harmetz p. 147.
- ^ londonscottishregt.org
- ^ Harmetz p. 147.
- ^ Harmetz p. 190.
References
- Harmetz, Aljean. Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of "Casablanca". Orion Publishing Co, 1993.
External links
