Claude Rains

From Clapham, London, England, UK • 1889 - 1967

William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was a British and American character actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, and is considered one of the screen's great character stars who played cultured villains during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The son of a stage actor, Rains began acting onstage in his native London in the 1900s. He became a leading thespian on the West End, and an acting teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He moved to the United States in the late 1920s and became a successful Broadway star, before making his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in The Invisible Man (1933). He went on to play prominent roles in such big-screen productions as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca (1942), Kings Row (1942), Phantom of the Opera (1943) and Notorious (1946). In 1951, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Darkness at Noon. He continued to work as a prominent character actor in films, notably as Mr. Dryden in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and his final role in the Biblical epic The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). In 1960, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry. Richard Chamberlain described him as "one of the finest actors of the 20th century," while Bette Davis considered him one of her favorite co-stars. (Via Wikipedia)