Claude Rains

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Claude Rains

British actor

Also known as: William Claude Rains

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 26, 2025 • Article History

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In full:: William Claude Rains

Born:: November 10, 1889, London, England

Died:: May 30, 1967, Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S. (aged 77)

Awards And Honors:: Tony Awards; Tony Award (1951): Best Actor in a Play

Married To:: Frances Propper (1935–1956); Beatrix Thomson (1924–1935); Isabel Jeans (1913–1918); Rosemary McGroarty Clark (1960–1964 [her death]); Marie Hemingway (1920–1920); Agi Jambor (1959–1960)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Hearts Divided" (1936); "Sealed Cargo" (1951); "Build Thy House" (1920); "The Passionate Friends" (1949); "The Lost World" (1960); "Lady with Red Hair" (1940); "Dr. Kildare" (1964); "The Wolf Man" (1941); "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939); "Four Mothers" (1941); "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941); "They Made Me a Criminal" (1939); "The Clairvoyant" (1935); "The Invisible Man" (1933); "The Prince and the Pauper" (1937); "The Alcoa Hour" (1956); "Omnibus" (1954); "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1956–1962); "Wagon Train" (1962); "The Sea Hawk" (1940); "The White Tower" (1950); "Moontide" (1942); "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head" (1934); "Mel-O-Toons" (1960); "This Earth Is Mine" (1959); "Four Daughters" (1938); "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" (1935); "This Love of Ours" (1945); "Kings Row" (1942); "White Banners" (1938); "Naked City" (1960); "Rawhide" (1963); "The Last Outpost" (1935); "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1963–1965); "Crime Without Passion" (1934); "Stolen Holiday" (1937); "Angel on My Shoulder" (1946); "Now, Voyager" (1942); "Phantom of the Opera" (1943); "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938); "Juarez" (1939); "The DuPont Show of the Week" (1962–1963); "Song of Surrender" (1949); "Medallion Theatre" (1953); "Sam Benedict" (1962); "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945); "Casablanca" (1942); "Daughters Courageous" (1939); "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965); "Rope of Sand" (1949); "Strange Holiday" (1945); "Passage to Marseille" (1944); "Anthony Adverse" (1936); "The Kaiser Aluminum Hour" (1956); "The Reporter" (1964); "The Unsuspected" (1947); "Four Wives" (1939); "The Man Who Watched Trains Go By" (1952); "Playhouse 90" (1959); "Kraft Television Theatre" (1956); "Twilight of Honor" (1963); "Forever and a Day" (1943); "Deception" (1946); "Eye on New York" (1956); "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962); "Gold Is Where You Find It" (1938); "Il pianeta degli uomini spenti" (1961); "Lisbon" (1956); "Notorious" (1946); "Mr. Skeffington" (1944); "They Won't Forget" (1937); "Saturday's Children" (1940); "Where Danger Lives" (1950)

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Claude Rains (born November 10, 1889, London, England—died May 30, 1967, Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S.) was a 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.

Rains began acting at the age of 11 and worked at various backstage jobs before making his adult stage debut in 1911. After serving in World War I, he enjoyed a successful stage career in London and taught at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (one of his students was John Gielgud). He toured the United States in The Constant Nymph in 1926 and soon made a name for himself on Broadway. Although neither tall nor romantically handsome, Rains had an attractive expressive face and a commanding voice and stage presence that led to his making a screen test. He was then cast in the title role of H.G. Wells’s The Invisible Man (1933), directed by James Whale. Although Rains’s face is hidden behind bandages throughout most of the film, his ominous voice effectively reflected the heightening madness of the megalomaniacal scientist he portrayed.

*Casablanca*(From left) Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, and Ingrid Bergman in *Casablanca* (1942), directed by Michael Curtiz.

Rains went on to play a variety of leading and supporting roles, including criminals, aristocrats, politicians, spies, learned professionals, and family men, all with equal charm and finesse. 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. Rains was also nominated for Oscars as best supporting actor for his work in three much-loved American film classics: as the corrupt senator in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), as the charming, opportunistic police chief in Casablanca (1942), and as the likable, sensitive Nazi agent in love with costar Ingrid Bergman in Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946). 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.

Publicity still with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman from the motion picture film "Casablanca" (1942); directed by Michael Curtiz. (cinema, movies)

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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. He also acted on television and continued to appear in films until 1965, when he played King Herod in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.