Posted 6-19-14 William Claude Rains, born November 10, 1889, was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 46 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, including the title role in The Invisible Man (1933), scientists, corrupt kings, and senators in The Wolf Man (1941), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939),Mr. Dryden in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942). He came relatively late to film acting. His first screen test was a failure, but his distinctive voice earned him the title role in The Invisible Man (1933) after his screen test was inadvertently overheard from the next room. Following The Invisible Man, Universal Studios attempted to typecast him in horror films; however, he went on to play the villainous role of Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), gave an Academy Award-nominated performance as the corrupt US senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and portrayed the flexible police officer Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942). In 1943, he played the title character in Universals remake of Phantom of the Opera. Bette Davis named him her favorite co-star, and they made four films together, including Now, Voyager (1942) and Mr. Skeffington (1944). He became the first actor to receive a million-dollar salary, when he portrayed Julius Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), which filmed in Britain. In 1946, he played a refugee Nazi agent opposite Cary Grant and Casablanca co-star Ingrid Bergman in Alfred Hitchcocks Notorious. His only singing and dancing role was in a 1957 television musical version of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, with Van Johnson as the Piper. He remained a popular character actor in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in many films, including Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and King Herod in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), which was his final film role. He died on May 30, 1967, in Laconia, New Hampshire, at the age of 77.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 17:32:18 +0000