page_title: Claude Rains
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Claude Rains / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: This sepia coloured image taken in 1912, shows a 23 year old Claude Rains in one of his early theatre roles.
context_page_description: William Claude Rains was a British-American film and stage actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in The Invisible Man he appeared in classic films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Wolf Man, Casablanca and Kings Row, Notorious and Lawrence of Arabia.
  He was a Tony Award winning actor and was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Rains was considered to be "one of the screen's great character stars" who was, according to the All-Movie Guide, "at his best when playing cultured villains". During his lengthy career, he was greatly admired by many of his acting colleagues, such as Bette Davis, Vincent Sherman, Ronald Neame, Albert Dekker, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Charles Laughton and Richard Chamberlain.
context_section_description: William Claude Rains was born on 10 November 1889 in Clapham, London. His parents were Emily Eliza (née Cox) and the stage actor Frederick William Rains. He lived in the slums of London, and, in his own words, on "the wrong side of the river Thames". Rains was one of twelve children, all but three dying of malnutrition when still infants. His mother took in boarders in order to support the family. According to his daughter, Jessica Rains, he grew up with "a very serious Cockney accent and a speech impediment" which took the form of a stutter, causing him to call himself "Willie Wains". His accent was so strong that his daughter could not understand a word he said when he used it to sing old Cockney songs to her or purposely used it to playfully annoy her. Rains left school after the second grade to sell newspapers so that he could bring the pennies and halfpennies home for his mother. He sang in the Palm Street Church choir, which also brought him a few pence to take home.
  Because his father was an actor, the young Rains would spend time in theatres and was surrounded by actors and stagehands. There he observed actors as well as the day-to-day running of a theatre. Rains made his stage debut at age ten in the play Sweet Nell of Old Drury at the Haymarket Theatre, so that he could run around onstage as part of the production. He slowly worked his way up in the theatre, becoming a call boy (telling actors when they were due on stage) at His Majesty's Theatre and later a prompter, stage manager, understudy, and then moving on from smaller parts with good reviews to larger, better parts.
caption: A 23-year-old Rains in one of his early theatre roles, 1912
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