Book description
Late in Claude Rains's distinguished career, a reverent film journalist
wrote that Rains “was as much a cinematic institution as the medium
itself.” Given his childhood speech impediments and his origins in a
destitute London neighborhood, the ascent of Claude Rains (1889-1967) to
the stage and screen is remarkable. Rains's difficulties in his
formative years provided reserves of gravitas and sensitivity, from
which he drew inspiration for acclaimed performances in The Invisible
Man (1933), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Casablanca (1942),
Notorious (1946), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and other classic films. In
Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, noted Hollywood historian David J. Skal
draws on more than thirty hours of newly released Rains interviews to
create the first full-length biography of the actor who was nominated
multiple times for an Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. Skal's
portrait of the gifted actor also benefits from the insights of Jessica
Rains, who provides firsthand accounts of the enigmatic man behind her
father's refined screen presence and genteel public persona. As Skal
shows, numerous contradictions informed the life and career of Claude
Rains. He possessed an air of nobility and became an emblem of
sophistication, but he never shed the insecurities that traced back to
his upbringing in an abusive and poverty-stricken family. Though deeply
self-conscious about his short stature, Rains drew notorious ardor from
female fans and was married six times. His public displays of dry wit
and good humor masked inner demons that drove Rains to alcoholism and
its devastating consequences. Skal's layered depiction of Claude Rains
reveals a complex, almost inscrutable man whose nuanced
characterizations were, in no small way, based on the more shadowy parts
of his psyche. With unprecedented access to episodes from Rains's
private life, Skal tells the full story of the consummate character
actor of his generation. Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, gives voice to
the struggles and innermost concerns that influenced Rains's
performances and helped him become a universally respected Hollywood
legend. David J. Skal, the author of numerous books about film and
popular culture, including Hollywood Gothic and The Monster Show, lives
in Glendale, California. Jessica Rains, the only child of Claude Rains,
is a producer and actress who lives in Venice, CA.
