claude rains age

He became a very elegant man, with a really extraordinary Mid-Atlantic accent. Growing up around the theater, he was soon performing in plays, starting at the age … Was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before coming to Hollywood, whose students included. Biography 1 8 8 9 - 1 9 6 7. Claude Rains Net Worth Claude Rains made money by Actors niche. William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was a British-American film and stage actor whose career spanned six decades. Shaw apparently chose him for the part, although Rains intensely disliked Gabriel Pascal, the film's director and producer. See more ideas about claude rains, rains, claude. "[16] On loan to Columbia Pictures, he portrayed a corrupt U.S. senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor. He sang in the Palm Street Church choir, which also brought him a few pence to take home. She also praised his performances: "He was marvelous in Deception and was worth the whole thing as the picture wasn't terribly good, but he was so marvelous and the restaurant scene where he's talking about all the food...brilliant, and of course in Mr. Skeffington he was absolutely brilliant as the husband, just brilliant.". He is 131 years old and is a Scorpio. Disliked giving interviews and rarely did. [9] In November 1916, Rains was involved in a gas attack at Vimy, which resulted in him permanently losing 90 percent of the vision in his right eye as well as suffering vocal cord damage. Villains were a Rains specialty, particularly those of a suave and sarcastic nature; and yet when the role called for it, Rains could be remarkably moving and even add a touch of pathos without losing any of his effectiveness. ", Rains' debut speaking role in the theatre, This supporting role marked Rains' return to the stage after being wounded in WWI. [2] During his lengthy career, he was greatly admired by many of his acting colleagues, such as Bette Davis, Vincent Sherman, Ronald Neame, Albert Dekker, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Charles Laughton and Richard Chamberlain. Most of his siblings died in their infancy. [26] Rains died from an abdominal hemorrhage in Laconia on 30 May 1967, aged 77. The farm became one of the "great prides" of his life. The majority of the items were used to help David J. Skal write his book on Rains, An Actor's Voice. In fact he was one of the best and most popular teachers there. Sold into syndication after its first telecast, it was repeated annually by many local US TV stations. Also, as a young child, she stuttered and Rains' cure for this was for everyone in the house to sing everything they wanted to say, which worked. Help us build our profile of Claude Rains! Birth Place: London, England. The younger Rains followed, making his stage debut at the age of eleven in "Nell of Old Drury." [18] Rains followed it with Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946) as a refugee Nazi agent opposite Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. In 1960, he married Rosemary Clark Schrode, to whom he was married until her death on 31 December 1964. In Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, noted Hollywood historian David J. Skal draws on more than thirty hours of newly released Rains interviews to create the first full-length biography of the actor who was nominated multiple times for an Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. On the day his divorce from Frances Propper was final, he drank and drove his Bentley into a ditch, totaling it. True to Universal's formula mentality, it cast him in similar roles through 1934 with some respite in more diverse film roles -- and further relieved by Broadway roles (1933, 1934) for the remainder of his contract. Into the 1940s, Rains had risen to perhaps unique stature: a supporting actor who had achieved A-list stardom -- almost in a category by himself. The son of British stage actor Frederick Rains, Claude Rains gave his first theatrical performance at age 11 in Nell of Old Drury. Claude Rains Biography. Claude Rains, in full William Claude Rains, (born November 10, 1889, London, England—died 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. who had been helping him with the project. The son of British stage actor Frederick Rains, Claude Rains gave his first theatrical performance at age 11 in Nell of Old Drury. I was always trying to copy him in my first years as an actor, until I decided to imitate Noël Coward instead. |  His family lived in the slums in extreme poverty. Rains was contemplating a return to the stage in 1964 in "So Much of Earth, So Much of Heaven", but poor health prevented that. I'm so glad of that. had died -- the cause would not have been "malnutrition" as … Claude Rains was in an on-screen matchup with Vivien Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).. Claude Rains is a member of the following lists: English film actors, Tony Award winners and Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.. And that scornful right eyebrow which could freeze an adversary faster than and more effectively than any physical threat. [25] A chronic alcoholic, Rains died from cirrhosis of the liver. 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. In his final years, Rains decided to write his memoirs and engaged the help of journalist Jonathan Root to assist him. 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. Rains did return to New York in 1927 to begin what would be nearly 20 Broadway roles. He also did not go to see the rushes of the day's filming "because he told me, every time he went he was horrified by his huge face on the huge screen, that he just never went back again.". Generation also known as The Greatest Generation. Back in Britain, he appeared in David Lean's The Passionate Friends (1949). Claude Rains movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best. The 1911 Census shows all the family still living together in Camberwell, a 'middle class' area, and Fred Rains is described as a 'Producer & Stage Manager of Moving Pictures'. His wife Rosemary died from pancreatic cancer. Claude Rains was born in 1880s. He spent much of his time between film takes reading up on agricultural techniques to try when he got home. He could also throw out a high-pitched maniac laugh that would make you leave the lights on before going to bed. Rains' first wife, Isabel Jeans played the role of Lady Elizabeth Mulhammer in the 1953 Edinburgh premiere. Had an enormous influence on many young actors in England whom he trained. In Twilight of Honor Rains played a retired lawyer acting as a mentor to Chamberlain's character. Claude Rains was one of my teachers at RADA. Although they lived in Pennsylvania, Rains did not want his daughter to have a Pennsylvanian accent. Also included in the auction were many volumes of his private leather-bound scrapbooks which contained many of his press cuttings and reviews from the beginning of his career. 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. Bette Davis in an interview with Dick Cavett said about Rains: Well, of course he petrified me. He knew the whole script before he came out (to film). Tree paid for the elocution lessons that Rains needed to succeed as an actor. By 1936, he was at Warner Bros. with its ambitious laundry list of literary epics in full swing. 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). Claude Rains is a Scorpio and was born in The Year of the Ox Life. 21-year-old Claude was an 'Assistant Stage Manager at Haymarket Theatre'. The son of an English stage actor, Rains was born into extreme poverty: nine of his siblings died in the squalor of a poor section of London. In 1946, when four films with Rains were running on Broadway at the same time, New York Times critic Bosley Crowther remarked, "It never rains, but what it pours.". After the war ended, Rains remained in England and continued to develop his acting talents. On loan again, Rains played the title character in Universal's remake of Phantom of the Opera (1943). He was nominated four times for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar -- but incredibly never won. And his mouth could take on both a forbidding scowl and the warmest of smiles in an instant. 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. And the striking virtuosity that I witnessed as a young actor is now there for audiences everywhere to see for all time. His mother took in boarders in order to support the family. Rains loved farming and maintained a 350 acre farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania before moving to Sandwich, New Hampshire in his final years. He was extremely attractive and needless to say, all the girls in my class were hopelessly in love with him. He was the disfigured Phantom of the Opera (1943) as well. Because his father was an actor, the young Rains would spend time in theatres and was surrounded by actors and stagehands. 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". He designed his own tombstone which reads "All things once, Are things forever, Soul, once living, lives forever". Claude Rains has to be considered one of the finest actors of the 20th century. Jessica Rains remembered her father's work ethic: He was interested in the process (of film). He played opposite the challenging Bette Davis in three movies through the decade and came out her equal in acting virtuosity. Rains was the very man. is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". [15] He played the villainous role of Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). 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. [21], He acquired the 380-acre (1.5 km2) Stock Grange Farm, built in 1747 in West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania (just outside Coatesville), in 1941. (4)The Census record also shows that 4 children had been born alive (not 12!) He starred in The Jeffersonian Heritage, a 1952 series of 13 half-hour radio programmes recorded by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters and syndicated for commercial broadcast on a sustaining (i.e., commercial-free) basis.[19]. He was a Tony Award winning actor and was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Nov 19, 2020 - Explore David Stoppa's board "Claude Rains", followed by 860 people on Pinterest. He would recite bedtime stories to his daughter Jessica in Cockney, an English dialect that was essentially his mother tongue. Although he had played the single supporting role in the silent, Build Thy House (1920),[1] Rains came relatively late to film acting. On the way to their wedding, Rains' soon-to-be-fifth wife Agi made him turn around and go back. "[11] Soon after changing his accent, he became recognised as one of the leading stage actors in London. It bothered him that his fifth wife, Agi, would practice piano on a silent keyboard. Claude Rains was born William Claude Rains on 10 November, 1889, in Camberwell, London, the son of British stage actor Frederick Rains. It was clear to us that he loved practicing his craft; he dazzled us all. 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. Claude Rains movies: 15 greatest films, ranked worst to best, include ‘Casablanca,’ ‘The Invisible Man,’ ‘Notorious’ Susan Pennington , Chris Beachum Film The NBC colour special, broadcast as a film rather than a live or videotaped programme, was highly successful with the public. One was John Gielgud who once said, "It was during my time at RADA, there was a man who inspired us all. After practicing every day while living with, but the entire script his acting.... The tender age of 77 us TV stations Turner Classic movies, Chamberlain said ) was an actor found time! Bach expert who taught music at Bryn Mawr her to pronounce words the way he,! Agent to call he stepped on stage for the first actor to a. In Universal 's remake of Phantom of the business by working his way up from a! 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