He was an actor that nowadays most people couldn’t name from a photograph, but he was in one of the greatest romantic films, one of the most moving weepies, one of the finest thrillers, one of the most rousing adventure stories, and one of the most influential horror movies ever made. I’m talking about Casablanca, Now Voyager, Notorious, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Invisible Man. The actor who links them all is Claude Rains.

Rains brought a quiet realism and a penetrating intelligence to the many movies in which he acted; he could work in any genre and improve any film. Sometimes he played amoral characters, or downright evil ones. Or he could play otherworldly figures – he may be the only actor to play both a devil and an angel. He was great as a father figure, or the mentor to a melodramatic hero or heroine, grounding them with his practical talk. Not many actors can choose to exude either a quiet benevolence or a sinister presence, but with a flex of his eyebrows or a change to his rich, textured voice, Rains could convey either.

His versatility should be legendary, but he’s usually remembered as a horror actor instead of as one of the great character actors of the twentieth century. Still, whatever kind of movies you enjoy, you’ll find something to enjoy in the performances of Claude Rains. He was always utterly watchable.

A brief biography