Trivia of Claude Rains

 Trivia of Claude Rains (10 November 1889 - 30 May 1967)

*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 10 in the play Sweet Nell of Old Drury at the Haymarket Theatre.

*Rains flunked his screen test for The Invisible Man (1933). The actor called it "the worst in the history of movie making", but director James Whale hired Rains anyway, remarking, "I don't care what he looks like; that's the voice I want.".Claude Rains' performance in this film as The Invisible Man inspired Mark Hamill's portrayal of the Joker.

*John Garfield and Claude Rains co-starred in six movies: "Four Daughters" (1938), "They Made Me a Criminal" (1939), "Juarez" (1939), "Daughters Courageous" (1939), "Four Wives" (1939), and "Saturday's Children" (1940). They also appeared in the short "Breakdowns of 1942" (1942).

*He became the first actor to receive a million-dollar salary when he portrayed Julius Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).

*Rains was offered numerous roles which would have undoubtedly changed his career path, but one way or another he did not play the roles. These roles include Dr. Gogol in Mad Love (1935), Dr. Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Frollo or Qasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Wolf von Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein (1939), Professor Higgins in Pygmalion (1938), Mr. Doolittle in My Fair Lady (1964), Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Duke de Lorca in Adventures of Don Juan (1948) and Henry Potter in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

*While filming Notorious (1946) with Alfred Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman, Hitchcock suggested Rains wear platforms in his shoes as Bergman was very tall. Although embarrassed, Rains agreed to this. One day while Rains was talking to Bergman, Hitchcock came by, lifting Rains' pant leg and revealing his platforms, commenting "The shame of Rains".

*Bette Davis named him as her favourite costar.

*He designed his own tombstone. It reads: "All things once/Are things forever,/Soul, once living,/lives forever.".