BIO

Claude Rains was born William Claude Rains in London, in 1889. His father, Fred Rains, was an actor and film director.

His acting talents were recognized by Sir Herbert Tree, founder of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.   Tree paid for elocution lessons that Rains, who had grown up with a strong Cockney accent, would need to master to succeed as an actor.

He made his West End stage debut in 1903, at the age of 14, and continued to appear there through 1926.   Later, Rains also taught at The Royal Academy, working with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, among others.

He served in the World War I with the London Scottish, alongside fellow actors Basil Rathbone, Ronald Colman and Herbert Marshall.   Rains fell victim to a gas attack that left him nearly blind in one eye.

Although Rains appeared in his first film for Ideal Films, in 1920 at the age of 31, it was not until the 1930s that he put more focus on films over his stage acting.

Rains came to the New York in 1926 and made his Broadway debut as a replacement for one of the original actors.   His mellifluous delivery and ability to project to the back seats ignited his Broadway stage career and Rains went on to appear in another 17 productions through 1956.

In 1951, he was awarded the Tony for Best Actor for his performances in Darkness at Noon (1951).   He also starred in The Confidential Clerk (1954).

Rains initially signed with Universal Pictures in 1933 and made his U.S. film debut that same year, at the age of 44, with a starring role in the James Whale production of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. Rains went on to became a very busy supporting actor and received four Oscar nominations for:

• Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939),
• Casablanca (1942),
• Mr. Skeffington (1944) and
• Notorious (1946).

Rains appeared in more than 55 feature films during his career. His last picture was released in 1965.

Rains married six times:

1. Isabel Jeans, actress, 1913-1915, divorced.
2. Marie Hemingway, actress, 1920, divorced.   When he found out his new wife was a closet alcoholic, he quickly divorced her.
3. Beatriz Thomas, 1924-1935, divorced.   They separated after four years of marriage.
4. Frances Propper, 1935–1956, one child, divorced.   Their daughter is the actress Jessica Rains.
5. Agi Jambor, concert pianist, 1959–1960, divorced.
6. Rosemary Schrode, 1960-1964, widowed.   She died of pancreatic cancer.

He died from an intestinal hemorrhage, in Laconia, New Hampshire, in 1967, at the age of 77.

Additional English stage history is available at:

Additional Broadway stage history is available at:

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS