Claude Rains

British actor (1889–1967)

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United Kingdom rank#249

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Fame59.0
Momentum3.3
United Kingdom rank#249
Actors rank#82
Wikipedia28.5K

Lived 1889–1967, aged 78United Kingdom

United Kingdom ActorsActor

Wikipedia
42 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in United Kingdom
#249
Actors
Era
1889–1967
Aged 78
Known for
Casablanca
1943

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

He made his American film debut invisible — literally, as the bandaged scientist in The Invisible Man — then spent three decades as the screen's most elegant villain and the sharpest voice in the room, stealing Casablanca and a dozen other pictures without ever quite becoming the star.

Biography

About

The son of a stage actor, Rains started in London theater in the 1900s and rose to teach at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts before crossing to Broadway in the late 1920s. His film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in The Invisible Man (1933) launched a run through the Golden Age: The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Wolf Man, Casablanca, Kings Row, Phantom of the Opera, Notorious. Four times nominated for Best Supporting Actor, he never won the Oscar but took a Tony in 1951 for Darkness at Noon. He kept working into the 1960s — Mr. Dryden in Lawrence of Arabia, a final tu…

Voice