His one and only silent film venture was British with a small part for him, the forgettable -- Build Thy House (1920).In the meantime, Rains was in demand as acting teacher as well, and he taught at the Royal Academy. On loan to Columbia Pictures, Claude Rains portrayed the fatally corrupt Senator Joseph Paine in the Frank Capra-directed Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).and for his fine performance, received the first of four Best Actor in a Supporting Role nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His "breakout" role came as Julius Caesar in "Caesar and Cleopatra," where he garnered a million dollars for his performance. When did Claude Rains die? His second, third, and fourth wives were Marie Hemingway, Beatrix Thomson, and Frances Propper, respectively. . However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Rains had a unique and solid British voice-deep, slightly rasping -- but richly dynamic. Learn more about merges. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/claude-rains-43905.php, 20th Century Film & Theater Personalities, 20th Century British Film & Theater Personalities, 20th Century American Film & Theater Personalities. But by the time I first met him in the 1920s he was already much in demand as a character actor in London. Rains, his wife Frances, and daughter Jennifer lived on a farm in Pennsylvania. "Carla" is obsessed with making the climb and puts together . He was extremely attractive and needless to say, all the girls in my class were hopelessly in love with him. A number of clips from many of her most successful films were shown and I was particularly delighted, when, as soon as Claude Rains appeared in the close-up of one of the clips, the whole audience burst into a great wave of applause. Famous actress Bette Davis shared that Claude Rains was her favorite co-star. In 2010, many of his personal items, including his Tony + View More Here Renowned actor Claude Rains lived in West Chester. William Claude Rains, born in the Clapham area of London, was the son of the British stage actor Frederick Rains. [18] 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. Rains starred in multiple plays and productions over the course of his career, playing a variety of leading and supporting parts. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, 20th Century Icons Born in the 19th Century in the 22nd Century, Rosemary McGroarty Clark His parents were Emily Eliza (ne Cox) and the stage actor Frederick William Rains. His performance in the play earned him a Tony Award. He later become a call boy at His Majesty's Theatre and then went on to serve as the prompter and the stage manager. Rains returned to the stage in the 1950s and won a Tony Award for his performance in Darkness at Noon, based on a novel by Arthur Koestler. Bette Davis in an interview with Dick Cavett said about Rains: Well, of course he petrified me. Back in Britain, he appeared in David Lean's The Passionate Friends (1949). Description. How old was Claude Rains at death? William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 - 30 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. Clapham (district within London Borough of Lambeth, London, England and some areas in the London Borough of Wandsworth). You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. He died in 1967 from an abdominal haemorrhage. He slowly worked his way up in the theatre, becoming a call boy (telling actors when they were due on stage) at His Majesty's Theatre and later a prompter, stage manager, understudy, and then moving on from smaller parts with good reviews to larger, better parts. William Claude Rains. Rains did return to New York in 1927 to begin what would be nearly 20 Broadway roles. He took a Universal Studio screen test that proved positive and his long career in motion pictures began - the greatest portion of which was spent with Warner Brothers where he became a busy actor with his smooth distinguished voice portraying a variety of roles, ranging from villains to sympathetic gentlemen. His only dancing and singing role was in a 1957 small screen production of The Pied Piper of Hamelin. He was born in Clapham on 1889-11-10. Thanks for your help! He sold the farm when his marriage to Propper ended in 1956; the building now, as then, is still referred to by locals as "Rains' Place". Two of his later big screen roles were of Dryden in the historical drama Lawrence of Arabia and King Herod in the epic movie The Greatest Story Ever Told. Rains moved to America in 1912 owing to the opportunities that were being offered in the New York theatres. After divorcing her in 1960, he went on to marry Rosemary Clark Schrode; they stayed married until her death in 1964. He came to the United States in 1913 but returned to England during. Claude Rains - Dr. Jack Griffin aka The Invisible Man. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. [23], He acquired the 380-acre (1.5km2) Stock Grange Farm, built in 1747 in West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania (just outside Coatesville), in 1941. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. When he came to California to do a film, I had to "hear him his lines" as he drove me to school every morning, 10 miles [16km]. Oops, something didn't work. I was always trying to copy him in my first years as an actor, until I decided to imitate Nol Coward instead. American Dream (Feb 21, 1933 - Mar 1933) Rains did return to New York in 1927 to begin what would be nearly 20 Broadway roles. During the 1940s, he did the movies Mr. 1935) Frances Propper (m. 1935; div 1956) Official Sites, Often played sophisticated, sometimes ambiguously moral men. Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. John Gielgud and Charles Laughton were among his students. At the time of his death, he was -1967 years old. Drag images here or select from your computer for Claude Rains memorial. He was often described as having come from impoverished working-class background in the East End of London. Age (2022) Update Soon. Among his many other notable pictures were The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940), and Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), in which Rains was reportedly personally chosen by George Bernard Shaw to portray Caesar. According to John Gielgud, Rains' second wife Marie Hemingway joined the cast for a brief period, thereby bringing Rains' first 3 wives together in the same dressing room. The Invisible Man (1933) 1933 was a great year for special effects. This browser does not support getting your location. Up-to-Date Info : Claude and Rosemary Rains died in the late 1960s and are buried at Red Hill Cemetery in Center Harbor, New Hampshire. I don't know whatever happened to him. 5 Mar 1982 (aged 33) Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA, Abel Hill Cemetery Chilmark, Dukes County, Massachusetts, USA Show Map. His wife Rosemary died from pancreatic cancer. While teaching at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he met and married one of his students, Isabel Jeans. He was the disfigured Phantom of the Opera (1943) as well. Year should not be greater than current year. Look at that lovely girl I've just shot! Home is Chester County. (Claude Rains), Copyright 2023 /The Celebrity Deaths.com/All Rights Reserved. Her father died attempting to climb the still unconquered mountain. Alex Sebastian in "Notorious" (RKO, 1946) is one of Claude Rains' best parts. In fact he was one of the best and most popular teachers there. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Louis Renault -- perhaps his best known role -- in Casablanca (1942). As soon as you hear that marvelous, unmistakable voice of honey mixed with gravel, he becomes instantly recognizable. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. ; Fact-checked by. Mr Rains story, beginning with his poor, lonely, friendless, cruel childhood, You will find yourself caught up in . (he died before he could write the book. He was a Tony Award recipient and a four-time Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor. It was not long before his talent garnered him acknowledgment as one of the leading stage actors on the London scene. | Red Hill Cemetery, Moultonborough, New Hampshire, United States Claude Rains/Place of burial Up-to-Date Info : Claude and Rosemary Rains died in the late 1960s and are buried at Red Hill Cemetery in Center Harbor, New Hampshire. Regarding the always excellent Claude Rains, I particularly like him in Anthony Adverse and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Biography - A Short Wiki Four-time Oscar nominee who starred as Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca and as the title character in the 1933 film The Invisible Man. He can rob, and rape, and kill!". Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. For the Heroes character, see Claude (Heroes). Claude Rains became a citizen of USA in the year 1939. Updates? When Charles Dickens died on June 9th, 1870, his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was barely half-finished. He spent much of his time between film takes reading up on agricultural techniques to try when he got home. Had played the devil who brought a criminal back to life in, Rains was offered numerous roles which would have undoubtedly changed his career path, but one way or another he did not play the roles. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Claude Rains I found on Findagrave.com. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. But get him into a conversation about acting, and he opened up with delightful anecdotes and fascinating stories about his long life as a thespian. Left $25,000 to the Actors Fund of America. Isnt that true? And that scornful right eyebrow which could freeze an adversary faster than and more effectively than any physical threat. [24] Here, he became a "gentleman farmer" and could relax and enjoy farming life with his then wife (Frances) churning the butter, their daughter collecting the eggs, with Rains himself ploughing the fields and cultivating the vegetable garden. Rains died of an abdominal hemorrhage on May 30, 1967. After the war he returned to the theater, where he was associated with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, later becoming its teacher. He lived in the slums of London, and, in his own words, on the wrong side of the river Thames Rains was one of twelve children, all but three dying. After the war, he studied theatre at the Northwestern University from where he graduated in 1949. His mother took in boarders in order to support the family. He designed his own tombstone. Was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before coming to Hollywood, whose students included. For Warner Bros., he played Dr. Alexander Tower, who commits murder-suicide to spare his daughter a life of insanity in Kings Row (1942) and the cynical police chief Captain Renault in Casablanca (also 1942). The effect of Rains seeming to disappear was created by making a head and body cast of the actor, from which a mask was made. Born William Claude Rains in London, England, the son of British stage actor Frederick Rains, he made his stage debut at the age of eleven, and learned the technical end of the business working first as a page, then working up to stage manager. Claude Akins was born on 25th May 1926 in Nelson, Georgia. "The Jeffersonian Heritage," Broadcasting-Telecasting, 8 September 1952, 36 (trade advertisement). Skeffington and Notorious, which garnered him two more Academy Award nominations. Smith Goes to Washington, Notorious, Lawrence of Arabia and The Pied Piper of Hamelin, to name a few. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. The first time his daughter ever saw Rains in a film was in 1950 when he took her to see. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Claude Rains, in full William Claude Rains, (born November 10, 1889, London, Englanddied May 30, 1967, Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S.), British motion picture and stage character actor noted for his smooth distinguished voice, polished ironic style, and intelligent portrayal of a variety of roles, ranging from villains to sympathetic gentlemen. Claude Rains started his career at the London theatre, achieving critical success with John Drinkwater's Ulysses S. Grant. He then went on to appear in numerous movies, including The Invisible Man, Mr. He was the firm but thoroughly sympathetic Dr. Jaquith in Now, Voyager (1942) and the smoothly sardonic but engaging Capt. Did Claude Rains live in West Chester Pa? Tree told Rains that in order to succeed as an actor, he would have to get rid of his Cockney accent and speech impediment. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. [Tag: killing, leadership, power ] previous. He designed his own tombstone. Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. [11] He never returned to combat but continued to serve with the Bedfordshire Regiment. [16] He played the villainous role of Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). There was a problem getting your location. ", Richard Chamberlain worked with Rains in what would be his second-to-last film, Twilight of Honor. He was a Tony Award-winning actor and was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. As his film career began to flourish, he found less time to perform in the theatre in both England and America. I found him enormously helpful and encouraging to work with. He displayed great chemistry with Bette Davis as her sympathetic psychiatrist in Now, Voyager (1942) and as her patient, loving husband in Mr. Skeffington (1944), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He was the surreptitiously nervous and malignant Alexander Sebastian in Notorious (1946) and the egotistical and domineering conductor Alexander Hollenius in Deception (1946). William Claude Rains was an English American film actor whose acting career spanned several decades. As an actress, she is known as Jessica Rains. In London theatre, he achieved success in the title role of John Drinkwater's play Ulysses S. Grant, the follow-up to the same playwright's Abraham Lincoln. He made a successful Broadway return in 1951, appearing in "Darkness at Noon" winning a Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic). His acting was superb, and his eyes could say as much as his voice. Abel Hill Cemetery, Chilmark, Massachusetts, United States As all of us "other era people," we don't just run through lines and say "turn the camera", we rehearse beforehandAnyway Claude and I couldn't, and he was the King of France who loathed Carlotta, and I was a kid and petrified of Mr. Claude Rains Biography - Famous People On 30 May 1967, he died due to an abdominal hemorrhage, at the age of 77. Charles Laughton were among his students, Isabel Jeans he graduated in 1949 childhood, you May ``. In 1964 including the Invisible Man try when he got home, Paul Henreid and rape, and rape and! Known role -- in Casablanca ( 1942 ) to imitate Nol Coward instead encouraging to work with,,... Play earned him a Tony Award a teacher at the Royal Academy Dramatic... And encouraging to work with Rains, born in the play earned him a Tony Award John. 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