William Claude Rains, born in the Clapham area of London, was the son of the British stage actor Frederick Rains. The younger Rains followed, making his stage debut at the age of eleven in "Nell of Old Drury." Growing up in the world of theater, he saw not only acting up close but the down-to-earth business end as well, progressing from a page boy to a stage manager during his well-rounded learning experience. Rains decided to come to America in 1913 and the New York theater, but with the outbreak of World War I the next year, he returned to serve with a Scottish regiment in Europe. He remained in England, honing his acting talents, bolstered with instruction patronized by the founder of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, 'Herbert Beerbohm Tree' suspense dramas into the 1960s. And he did not shy away from episodic TV either with some memorable roles that still reflected the power of Claude Rains as consummate actor -- for many, first among peers with that hallowed title.
Herbert Beerbohm Tree recognized Rains acting talent and paid for the elocution books and lessons he needed due to his poor diction.
Father of Jessica Rains.
Rains was almost blind in one eye because of an injury received in a gas attack during World War I.
Following his death, he was interred at Red Hill Cemetery in Moultonborough, New Hampshire.
Originally cast as the Duke de Lorca in Adventures of Don Juan .
Won Broadways 1951 Tony Award as Best Actor for "Darkness at Noon".
Son of Fred Rains , a highly respected stage actor in England.
His memorable role as The Invisible Man was referenced in the opening song to the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show .
Was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before coming to Hollywood, whose students included John Gielgud.
He would recite bedtime stories to his daughter Jessica in Cockney, an English dialect that was essentially his mother tongue.
His daughter Jennifer was born on January 24, 1938. Her screen name is Jessica Rains, as there was already a Jennifer Rains registered in the Actors Equity.
His wife Rosemary died from pancreatic cancer. Rains and his doctor kept the diagnosis from Rosemary until one day she said, "Please dont do that to me any longer. I know what Ive got.".
His wife Rosemary had been a Catholic but was not in good standing with the church as she had divorced and remarried. Claude Rains pushed the church to reinstate her, which they did at her funeral.
He separated from wife Isabel Jeans three times, reuniting two of those times. He finally filed for divorce on grounds of adultery when she miscarried Gilbert Wakefield s baby. She admitted the adultery during the divorce and later married "Gilly" Wakefield.
His first wife, Isabel Jeans , always wore a wig because her natural hair was so thin.
His marriage to Marie Hemingway only lasted months. Rains and Hemingway did not know each other well before marrying, and it was not until after they were married that he found out she was an alcoholic.
He starred in Richard B. Sheridan s "The Rivals" on stage in 1925. His then wife, Beatrix Thomson as well as his two former wives were also in the cast.
He and wife Beatrix Thomson separated in 1928. It took almost seven years to finalize.
His fifth wife, Agi Jambor, was born in 1908. She was a pianist-composer and Bach expert who taught music at Bryn Mawr.
His fifth wife, Agi, was a Hungarian Jew who had escaped the holocaust. She later composed the piano solo "Sonata for the Victims of Auschwitz".
His fifth wife, Agi, was a widow who had lost her husband in 1949.
On the way to their wedding, Rains soon-to-be-fifth wife Agi made him turn around and go back. She had forgotten to put on the underwear she had worn at her first wedding, which she insisted she wear for luck at her second.
It bothered him that his fifth wife, Agi, would practice piano on a silent keyboard. He could not stand to see her hands flying around with no music to listen to.
Rains would throw things when he was angry.
Rains was so stingy with money that constantly complained he was broke, although this was never truly the case.
When he had had enough of his fifth marriage to wife Agi, he had the locks changed on their house while she was out shopping.
His fourth wife, Frances Propper, was born around 1909.
While living with, but before their marriage, his fourth wife, Frances, their house burned down. The official cause of fire was a lightning strike. Rains later found out from a neighbor that it was arson -- his groundskeeper had burned it down.
His fourth wife, Frances, was named as corespondent in his divorce from third wife Beatrix.
After he divorced his third wife and married his fourth, his third wife charged him with bigamy, challenging the legality of their divorce.
Joan Crawford invited his daughter Jennifer to her daughter Christinas birthday party. She told Jennifers mother, Claudes wife, that Jennifer could wear jeans. Jennifer showed up to the party the only little girl not dressed up. When Christina introduced Jennifer to her mother, Crawford said to Jennifer, "It was very nice to meet you. And now you may leave." Jennifer was also shown Christinas extensive doll collection, which Christina explained to her that no one was ever allowed to touch or play with. Jennifer never returned to the Crawford home.
When his daughter Jennifer was 17, her mother, Frances Propper, woke her up in the middle of the night, saying she was leaving her father, and wanted to know if Jennifer wanted to come with her. Jennifer declined.
Rains and fourth wife Frances divorced after Francis began a relationship with a womans dress shop owner whom she later married.
On the day his divorce from Frances Propper was final, he drank and drove his Bentley into a ditch, totaling it. When they found him, he was passed out drunk on the ground and the car was upside down and on fire.
While filming Notorious with Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman , Hitchcock suggested Rains wear platforms in his shoes as Bergman was very tall. Although embarrassed, Rains agreed to this. One day while Rains was talking to Bergman, Hitchcock came by, lifting Rains pant leg and revealing his platforms, commenting "The shame of Rains".
When his daughter informed him she was divorcing her husband, Edward Brash, Rains said, "Tell me, was it sex?".
He designed his own tombstone. It reads: "All things once/Are things forever,/Soul, once living,/lives forever.".
Left $25,000 to the Actors Fund of America.
He never attended a premiere.
Rains, his wife Frances, and daughter Jennifer lived on a farm in Pennsylvania. When people asked Jennifer what her father did for a living, she would tell them he was a farmer.
The first time his daughter ever saw Rains in a film was in 1950 when he took her to see The Invisible Man in a small theater in Pennsylvania. They sat in the back, and Rains told her all about the making of the film as it played. The other people in the theater were not watching the movie, but rather watching Rains explain to his daughter how he made the film.
He did not just memorize his own lines, but the entire script.
Although they lived in Pennsylvania, Rains did not want his daughter to have a Pennsylvanian accent. He taught her to pronounce words the way he did, and he was successful. 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.
Had played the devil who brought a criminal back to life in Angel on My Shoulder and played an angel who brought a Boxer back to life in Here Comes Mr. Jordan .
Rains was offered numerous roles which would have undoubtedly changed his career path, but one way or another he did not play the roles. These roles include Dr. Gogol in Mad Love (1935) , Dr. Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) , Frollo or Qasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame , Wolf von Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein , Professor Higgins in Pygmalion , Mr. Doolittle in My Fair Lady , Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still , Duke de Lorca in Adventures of Don Juan and Henry Potter in Its a Wonderful Life .
Along with Vanessa Redgrave (for Julia ), Kate Winslet (for Iris (2000/I) , Mare Winningham (for Georgia ) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (for The Master ), he is one of the few performers to be nominated for a Supporting Oscar (for Mr. Skeffington ) for playing the title role in a movie. As of 2013, Redgrave is the only one to win.
According to "Claude Rains: An Actors Voice", he was friends with Helen Westley from the time they were in the Theatre Guild together in New York. When James Whale ordered him to watch movies to observe film acting in preparation for his role in The Invisible Man , Westley was his film watching companion.
Had an enormous influence on many young actors in England whom he trained. One was John Gielgud who once said, "It was during my time at RADA, there was a man who inspired us all. Claude Rains. I dont know what happened to him, I think he failed and went to America.".
He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia .
In his obituary, The New York Times claimed that Rains was the first British stage and film star to earn a million dollars for a single film, Caesar and Cleopatra .
Rains work on an autobiography were halted with the death of his sixth wife, Rosemary Clark. who had been helping him with the project.
While teaching at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he met and married one of his students, Isabel Jeans.
Rains flunked his screen test for The Invisible Man . The actor called it "the worst in the history of moviemaking", but director James Whale hired Rains anyway, remarking, "I dont care what he looks like; thats the voice I want.".
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.".
Rains was contemplating a return to the stage in 1964 in "So Much of Earth, So Much of Heaven", but poor health prevented that.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
Rains loved farming and maintained a 350 acre farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania before moving to Sandwich, New Hampshire in his final years.
Died from an intestinal hemorrhage at Lakes Region Hospital near his home in Sandwich, New Hampshire at age 77.
Rains became a United States citizen in 1938.
The England and Wales Census of 1891 shows infant William C Rains living with parents Frederick Wm Rains and Emily E Rains at 26 Tregothnan Rd, Lambeth, London. The house still stands, now divided into two flats.
Some sources incorrectly list his birthplace as Camberwell, in the London borough of Southwark. However, his birth certificate shows Rains was born at his familys home at 26 Tregothnan Road, Clapham, in the Lambeth district of London.
[on his versatility] I can play the butcher, the baker, and the,candlestick maker. .
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