Charles Laughton
Known for: Acting
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
Series
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Series
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Guest
1956
Series
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
Series
Startime
Self – Co-Host
1959
Series
MGM Parade
Self
1955
Film
Spartacus
Sempronius Gracchus
1960
Film
Witness for the Prosecution
Sir Wilfrid
1957
The George Gobel Show
Self
1954
Film
Mutiny on the Bounty
Captaine Bligh
1935
Film
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback Quasimodo
1939
The Jimmy Durante Show
Self
1954
Film
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
1982
Film
Hobson's Choice
Henry Horatio Hobson
1954
The Lux Show
Self
1957
Series
General Electric Theater
Edwin Kensington
1953
Series
General Electric Theater
Henry Denry
1953
Series
General Electric Theater
M. Hamel
1953
Film
The Paradine Case
Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
1947
Film
Island of Lost Souls
Dr. Moreau
1932
Film
The Big Clock
Earl Janoth
1948
Film
The Old Dark House
Sir William Porterhouse
1932
Film
Jamaica Inn
Sir Humphrey Pengallan
1939
Film
Advise & Consent
Senator Seabright Cooley
1962
Film
O. Henry's Full House
Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
1952
Film
Tales of Manhattan
Charles Smith
1942
Film
The Sign of the Cross
Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
1932
Film
Salome
King Herod
1953
Film
The Strange Door
Sire Alain de Maletroit
1951
Film
The Horror Show
(archive footage)
1979
Film
Arch of Triumph
Ivon Haake
1948
Film
Les Misérables
Inspector Emile Javert
1935
Film
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Film
The Private Life of Henry VIII
Henry VIII
1933
Film
If I Had a Million
Phineas V. Lambert
1932
Film
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
Self (archive footage)
2014
Film
Young Bess
King Henry VIII
1953
Film
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
1982
Film
Captain Kidd
Captain Kidd
1945
Film
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
1972
Film
Ruggles of Red Gap
Marmaduke Ruggles
1935
Film
The Blue Veil
Fred K. Begley
1951
Film
St. Martin's Lane
Charles Staggers
1938
Film
The Tonic
Father of the Family
1928
Film
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1991
Film
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1988
Film
Under Ten Flags
Admiral Russell
1960
Film
Forever and a Day
Bellamy
1943
Film
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
Self (archive footage)
2028
Film
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Edward Moulton-Barrett
1934
Film
Blue Bottles
Burglar
1928
Film
On Our Merry Way
Reverend
1948
Film
This Land Is Mine
Albert Lory
1943
Film
The Canterville Ghost
Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
1944
Film
Piccadilly
A Continental Visitor
1929
Film
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
2009
Film
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
Capt. William Kidd
1952
Film
The Bribe
J.J. Bealer
1949
Film
The Suspect
Philip Marshall
1945
Film
Stand by for Action
Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
1942
Film
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Self (archive footage)
1999
Film
The Tuttles of Tahiti
Jonas
1942
Film
Rembrandt
Rembrandt van Rijn
1936
Film
I, Claudius
Claudius
1937
Film
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self
1940
Film
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
Self (archive footage)
1994
Film
Because of Him
John Sheridan
1946
Film
Devil and the Deep
Cmdr. Charles Sturm
1932
Film
White Woman
Horace H. Prin
1933
Film
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
Inspector Jules Maigret
1949
Film
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Dr. Moreau (archive footage)
2014
Film
They Knew What They Wanted
Tony Patucci
1940
Film
The Man from Down Under
Jocko Wilson
1943
Film
The Art Director
Self - from 'The Big Clock' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1949
Film
Vessel of Wrath
Ginger Ted
1938
Film
The Girl from Manhattan
The Bishop
1948
Film
The Clerk
Phineas V. Lambert
1933
Film
The Epic That Never Was
Tiberius Claudius (archive footage)
1969
Film
Payment Deferred
William Marble
1932
Film
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Rabbi Adam Heller
1960
Film
It Started with Eve
Jonathan Reynolds
1941
Film
Comets
Himself
1930
Film
Daydreams
Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence
1928
Film
Wolves
Captain Job
1930
Film
Leben des Galilei
Galileo Galilei
1947
Film
Down River
Captain Grossman
1931
Film
Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of The Hunter"
Self (archive footage)
2002