CLAUDE RAINS
Name: William Claude Rains
Born: 10 November 1889 London, England
Died: 30 May 1967 Laconia, New Hampshire, USA (Intestinal hemorrhage)
William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was an award-winning
English actor and film star between the 1920s and 60s.
He later held American citizenship and was best known for his many roles in
Hollywood films.
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".
His acting talents were recognised by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, founder of The
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). 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,
alongside fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall.
Rains 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. 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".
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 colour special, shown as a film rather than
a live or videotaped programme, 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.
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 (1920-1920); Beatriz Thomas (1924 –April 8, 1935); Frances Propper (April
9, 1935 –1956); and Agi Jambor (November 4, 1959 –1960). He married Rosemary
Clark Schrode in 1960, and stayed with her until her death on December 31, 1964.
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 internal haemorrhage, in Laconia, New Hampshire at the age of
77. He is interred in the Red Hill Cemetery, Moultonborough, New Hampshire.
Name: William Claude Rains
Born: 10 November 1889 London, England
Died: 30 May 1967 Laconia, New Hampshire, USA (Intestinal hemorrhage)
William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was an award-winning
English actor and film star between the 1920s and 60s.
He later held American citizenship and was best known for his many roles in
Hollywood films.
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".
His acting talents were recognised by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, founder of The
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). 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,
alongside fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall.
Rains 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. 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".
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 colour special, shown as a film rather than
a live or videotaped programme, 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.
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 (1920-1920); Beatriz Thomas (1924 –April 8, 1935); Frances Propper (April
9, 1935 –1956); and Agi Jambor (November 4, 1959 –1960). He married Rosemary
Clark Schrode in 1960, and stayed with her until her death on December 31, 1964.
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 internal haemorrhage, in Laconia, New Hampshire at the age of
77. He is interred in the Red Hill Cemetery, Moultonborough, New Hampshire.