Charles Laughton
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1899-06-30
Day of Death
1962-12-15 (63 years old)
Place of Birth
Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Charles Laughton
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English-American stage and film actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death.
He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making an impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic. His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on notable British films of the era, including The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings. Among Laughton's biggest film hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Big Clock. In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the thriller The Night of the Hunter.
Daniel Day-Lewis cited Laughton as one of his inspirations, saying: "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor, he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."
Known For
Acting
(2014)
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
as Self (archive footage)
(2014)
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
as Dr. Moreau (archive footage)
(2009)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage)
(1999)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
as Self (archive footage)
(1991)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
as actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1983)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1982)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
as (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
(1982)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
as Self (archive footage)
(1979)
The Horror Show
as (archive footage)
(1972)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage)
(1969)
The Epic That Never Was
as Tiberius Claudius (archive footage)
(1962)
Advise & Consent
as Senator Seabright Cooley
(1960)
Spartacus
as Sempronius Gracchus
(1960)
Under Ten Flags
as Admiral Russell
(1957)
Witness for the Prosecution
as Sir Wilfrid
(1954)
Hobson's Choice
as Henry Horatio Hobson
(1953)
Salome
as King Herod
(1953)
Young Bess
as King Henry VIII
(1952)
O. Henry's Full House
as Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
(1952)
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
as Capt. William Kidd
(1951)
The Strange Door
as Sire Alain de Maletroit
(1951)
The Blue Veil
as Fred K. Begley
(1949)
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
as Inspector Jules Maigret
(1949)
The Bribe
as J.J. Bealer
(1949)
The Art Director
as Self - from 'The Big Clock' (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1948)
The Big Clock
as Earl Janoth
(1948)
Arch of Triumph
as Ivon Haake
(1948)
On Our Merry Way
as Reverend
(1948)
The Girl from Manhattan
as The Bishop
(1947)
The Paradine Case
as Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
(1947)
Leben des Galilei
as Galileo Galilei
(1946)
Because of Him
as John Sheridan
(1945)
Captain Kidd
as Captain Kidd
(1945)
The Suspect
as Philip Marshall
(1944)
The Canterville Ghost
as Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
(1943)
This Land Is Mine
as Albert Lory
(1943)
Forever and a Day
as Bellamy
(1943)
The Man from Down Under
as Jocko Wilson
(1942)
Tales of Manhattan
as Charles Smith
(1942)
Stand by for Action
as Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
(1942)
The Tuttles of Tahiti
as Jonas
(1941)
It Started with Eve
as Jonathan Reynolds
(1940)
(1940)
They Knew What They Wanted
as Tony Patucci
(1939)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
as The Hunchback Quasimodo
(1939)
Jamaica Inn
as Sir Humphrey Pengallan
(1938)
St. Martin's Lane
as Charles Staggers
(1938)
Vessel of Wrath
as Ginger Ted
(1936)
Rembrandt
as Rembrandt van Rijn
(1935)
Mutiny on the Bounty
as Captaine Bligh
(1935)
Les Misérables
as Inspector Emile Javert
(1935)
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Marmaduke Ruggles
(1934)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
as Edward Moulton-Barrett
(1933)
The Private Life of Henry VIII
as Henry VIII
(1933)
White Woman
as Horace H. Prin
(1933)
The Clerk
as Phineas V. Lambert
(1932)
The Old Dark House
as Sir William Porterhouse
(1932)
The Sign of the Cross
as Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
(1932)
Island of Lost Souls
as Dr. Moreau
(1932)
If I Had a Million
as Phineas V. Lambert
(1932)
Devil and the Deep
as Cmdr. Charles Sturm
(1932)
Payment Deferred
as William Marble
(1931)
Down River
as Captain Grossman
(1930)
Wolves
as Captain Job
(1930)
Comets
as Himself
(1929)
Piccadilly
as A Continental Visitor
(1928)
Blue Bottles
as Burglar
(1928)
Daydreams
as Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence
(1928)
The Tonic
as Father of the Family
Crew
(1964)
The Life of Galileo
Translator
(1955)
The Night of the Hunter
Screenplay, Director
(1947)
Leben des Galilei
Writer
(1939)
Jamaica Inn
Producer
(1938)
St. Martin's Lane
Producer, Additional Writing
(1938)
Vessel of Wrath
Producer