Who was Claude Rains? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: William Claude Rains

Died At Age: 77

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Agi Jambor (1959-1960), Beatriz Thomas (1924-1935), Frances Propper (1935-1956), Isabel Jeans (1913-1915), Marie Hemingway (1920-1920), Rosemary Clark Schrode (1960-1964)

father: Fred Rains

mother: Emily Rains

Born Country: England

Actors American Men

Height: 5'6" (168 cm), 5'6" Males

Died on: May 30, 1967

place of death: Laconia, New Hampshire, United States

City: London, England

Cause of Death: Abdominal Hemorrhage

More Facts

education: Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art

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Childhood & Early Life

William Claude Rains was born on November 10, 1889, in Clapham, London, to Emily Eliza and Frederick William Rains, a stage actor, as one of their twelve children. Most of his siblings died in their infancy.

His family lived in the slums in extreme poverty. His mother took in boarders to support the family.

At the age of ten, Rains made his stage debut in ‘Sweet Nell of Old Drury’. He later become a call boy at His Majesty's Theatre and then went on to serve as the prompter and the stage manager. He eventually moved on from minor acting parts to larger, better parts.

During the World War I, he served in the London Scottish Regiment. At one time, he got involved in a gas attack which led to permanent loss of vision in his right eye. By the end of the war, he had emerged as a captain.

The actor had a Cockney accent and suffered from a speech impediment during his early years. However, after working on his accent, he started getting leading stage roles and eventually emerged as one of the top actors on stage in London.

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Career

Claude Rains started his career at the London theatre, achieving critical success with John Drinkwater's ‘Ulysses S. Grant’. This was followed by a role in the same playwright's 1918 play ‘Abraham Lincoln’.

At the age of 29, he played Clarkis in his first and only silent movie, ‘Build Thy House’. During his early years, he also served as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).

He moved to Broadway during the late 1920s to appear in main roles in the plays ‘The Apple Cart’,’ ‘The Good Earth’ and ‘The Constant Nymph’. He appeared in the sci-fi horror ‘The Invisible Man’ in 1933.

On 27 November 1935, he signed to Warner Bros. Three years later, he starred in the villainous role of Prince John in the swashbuckler film ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ alongside Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, and Olivia de Havilland.

In 1942, Rains played a murderer in ‘Kings Row’ as well as a cynical police chief in ‘Casablanca’. A year later, he appeared in the titular role in ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and followed it up with the spy film ‘Notorious’ as a refugee Nazi agent.

His only dancing and singing role was in a 1957 small screen production of ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’. 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’.

Major Works

While on loan to Columbia Pictures, Claude Rains played a corrupt U.S. senator in the 1939 political comedy drama ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

During the 1940s, he did the movies ‘Mr. Skeffington’ and ‘Notorious’, which garnered him two more Academy Award nominations.

In 1951, the actor appeared as Rubashov in the stage production ‘Darkness at Noon’ at Alvin Theatre/Royale Theatre. His performance in the play earned him a Tony Award.

Family & Personal Life

Claude Rains became a citizen of USA in the year 1939.

He married six times. His first marriage was to English actress Isabel Jeans whom he married in 1913 and divorced two years later.

His second, third, and fourth wives were Marie Hemingway, Beatrix Thomson, and Frances Propper, respectively. His second wife stayed with him for less than a year.

In 1959, the actor married classical pianist Agi Jambor. After divorcing her in 1960, he went on to marry Rosemary Clark Schrode; they stayed married until her death in 1964.

Rains’ only child, Jennifer Rains, an actress, was born in January 1938 to Frances Propper.

On 30 May 1967, he died due to an abdominal hemorrhage, at the age of 77. He designed his own tombstone.

In 2010, many of his personal items, including his Tony Award, letters, photographs, etc. were put into an auction at the Heritage Auctions.

Claude Rains Biography