Charles Laughton
Acting • Born 1899-06-30 – Died 1962-12-15
Biography
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."
Filmography
86 credits
Spartacus
Movie • 1960
Sempronius Gracchus
Island of Lost Souls
Movie • 1932
Dr. Moreau
O. Henry's Full House
Movie • 1952
Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
The Old Dark House
Movie • 1932
Sir William Porterhouse
The Paradine Case
Movie • 1947
Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Movie • 1939
The Hunchback Quasimodo
Jamaica Inn
Movie • 1939
Sir Humphrey Pengallan
The Bribe
Movie • 1949
J.J. Bealer
The Suspect
Movie • 1945
Philip Marshall
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Movie • 1982
(in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
It Started with Eve
Movie • 1941
Jonathan Reynolds
Mutiny on the Bounty
Movie • 1935
Captaine Bligh
Tales of Manhattan
Movie • 1942
Charles Smith
The Horror Show
Movie • 1979
(archive footage)
Salome
Movie • 1953
King Herod
Arch of Triumph
Movie • 1948
Ivon Haake
Payment Deferred
Movie • 1932
William Marble
Ruggles of Red Gap
Movie • 1935
Marmaduke Ruggles
Witness for the Prosecution
Movie • 1957
Sir Wilfrid
The Private Life of Henry VIII
Movie • 1933
Henry VIII
Forever and a Day
Movie • 1943
Bellamy
Captain Kidd
Movie • 1945
Captain Kidd
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Movie • 1934
Edward Moulton-Barrett
Les Misérables
Movie • 1935
Inspector Emile Javert
Young Bess
Movie • 1953
King Henry VIII
This Land Is Mine
Movie • 1943
Albert Lory
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
Movie • 1952
Capt. William Kidd
Because of Him
Movie • 1946
John Sheridan
Hobson's Choice
Movie • 1954
Henry Horatio Hobson
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
Movie • 1949
Inspector Jules Maigret
Advise & Consent
Movie • 1962
Senator Seabright Cooley
The Strange Door
Movie • 1951
Sire Alain de Maletroit
The Canterville Ghost
Movie • 1944
Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
Rembrandt
Movie • 1936
Rembrandt van Rijn
The Sign of the Cross
Movie • 1932
Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
Piccadilly
Movie • 1929
A Continental Visitor
The Big Clock
Movie • 1948
Earl Janoth
Devil and the Deep
Movie • 1932
Cmdr. Charles Sturm
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
They Knew What They Wanted
Movie • 1940
Tony Patucci
Stand by for Action
Movie • 1942
Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
If I Had a Million
Movie • 1932
Phineas V. Lambert
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
St. Martin's Lane
Movie • 1938
Charles Staggers
The Blue Veil
Movie • 1951
Fred K. Begley
Under Ten Flags
Movie • 1960
Admiral Russell
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
Movie • 2014
Self (archive footage)
The Tuttles of Tahiti
Movie • 1942
Jonas
The Girl from Manhattan
Movie • 1948
The Bishop
Vessel of Wrath
Movie • 1938
Ginger Ted
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Movie • 1982
Self (archive footage)
The Epic That Never Was
Movie • 1969
Tiberius Claudius (archive footage)
White Woman
Movie • 1933
Horace H. Prin
The Man from Down Under
Movie • 1943
Jocko Wilson
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Movie • 2014
Dr. Moreau (archive footage)
Blue Bottles
Movie • 1928
Burglar
Daydreams
Movie • 1928
Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence
The Tonic
Movie • 1928
Father of the Family
Comets
Movie • 1930
Himself
Down River
Movie • 1931
Captain Grossman
Wolves
Movie • 1930
Captain Job
Leben des Galilei
Movie • 1947
Galileo Galilei
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie • 1940
Self
The Clerk
Movie • 1933
Phineas V. Lambert
The Art Director
Movie • 1949
Self - from 'The Big Clock' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Movie • 1991
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Movie • 2009
Self (archive footage)
On Our Merry Way
Movie • 1948
Reverend
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Movie • 1999
Self (archive footage)
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
Movie • 1994
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Movie • 1988
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Movie • 1960
Rabbi Adam Heller
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Edwin Kensington
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self - Guest
Star Time
TV • 1950
Self
The Jimmy Durante Show
TV • 1954
Self
Startime
TV • 1959
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Henry Denry
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
M. Hamel
The Lux Show
TV • 1957
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Mystery Guest
The George Gobel Show
TV • 1954
Self
MGM Parade
TV • 1955
Self