Charles Laughton
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."
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Films (77)
Charmed Lives: A Family Romance
2028 · Self (archive footage)
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
2014 · Self (archive footage)
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
2014 · Dr. Moreau (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009 · Self (archive footage)
Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of The Hunter"
2002 · Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999 · Self (archive footage)
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
1994 · Self (archive footage)
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · actor 'Advise and 'Consent' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
1988 · (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982 · (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982 · Self (archive footage)
The Horror Show
1979 · (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972 · Self (archive footage)
The Epic That Never Was
1969 · Tiberius Claudius (archive footage)
The Life of Galileo
1964 · Translator
Advise & Consent
1962 · Senator Seabright Cooley
Spartacus
1960 · Sempronius Gracchus
Under Ten Flags
1960 · Admiral Russell
In the Presence of Mine Enemies
1960 · Rabbi Adam Heller
Witness for the Prosecution
1957 · Sir Wilfrid
The Night of the Hunter
1955 · Screenplay, Director
Hobson's Choice
1954 · Henry Horatio Hobson
Young Bess
1953 · King Henry VIII
Salome
1953 · King Herod
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
1952 · Capt. William Kidd
O. Henry's Full House
1952 · Soapy (segment "The Cop and the Anthem")
The Strange Door
1951 · Sire Alain de Maletroit
The Blue Veil
1951 · Fred K. Begley
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
1949 · Inspector Jules Maigret
The Art Director
1949 · Self - from 'The Big Clock' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Bribe
1949 · J.J. Bealer
The Girl from Manhattan
1948 · The Bishop
The Big Clock
1948 · Earl Janoth
Arch of Triumph
1948 · Ivon Haake
On Our Merry Way
1948 · Reverend
The Paradine Case
1947 · Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
Leben des Galilei
1947 · Galileo Galilei, Writer
Because of Him
1946 · John Sheridan
Captain Kidd
1945 · Captain Kidd
The Suspect
1945 · Philip Marshall
The Canterville Ghost
1944 · Sir Simon de Canterville / The Ghost
The Man from Down Under
1943 · Jocko Wilson
This Land Is Mine
1943 · Albert Lory
Forever and a Day
1943 · Bellamy
Stand by for Action
1942 · Rear Admiral Stephen Thomas
Tales of Manhattan
1942 · Charles Smith
The Tuttles of Tahiti
1942 · Jonas
It Started with Eve
1941 · Jonathan Reynolds
They Knew What They Wanted
1940 · Tony Patucci
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940 · Self
St. Martin's Lane
1939 · Charles Staggers, Producer, Additional Writing
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1939 · The Hunchback Quasimodo
Jamaica Inn
1939 · Sir Humphrey Pengallan, Producer
Vessel of Wrath
1938 · Ginger Ted, Producer
I, Claudius
1937 · Claudius
Rembrandt
1936 · Rembrandt van Rijn
Mutiny on the Bounty
1935 · Captaine Bligh
Les Misérables
1935 · Inspector Emile Javert
Ruggles of Red Gap
1935 · Marmaduke Ruggles
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1934 · Edward Moulton-Barrett
White Woman
1933 · Horace H. Prin
The Private Life of Henry VIII
1933 · Henry VIII
The Clerk
1933 · Phineas V. Lambert
Island of Lost Souls
1932 · Dr. Moreau
The Sign of the Cross
1932 · Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar
If I Had a Million
1932 · Phineas V. Lambert
Payment Deferred
1932 · William Marble
The Old Dark House
1932 · Sir William Porterhouse
Devil and the Deep
1932 · Cmdr. Charles Sturm
Down River
1931 · Captain Grossman
Comets
1930 · Himself
Wolves
1930 · Captain Job
Piccadilly
1929 · A Continental Visitor
Blue Bottles
1928 · Burglar
Daydreams
1928 · Lecherous Boarder / Ram Das in Dream Sequence
The Tonic
1928 · Father of the Family
Séries (12)
Startime
1959 · Self – Co-Host
The Lux Show
1957 · Self
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · Self
Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows
1956
The Steve Allen Show
1956 · Self - Guest
MGM Parade
1955 · Self
The Jimmy Durante Show
1954 · Self
The George Gobel Show
1954 · Self
General Electric Theater
1953 · Edwin Kensington, Henry Denry, M. Hamel
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · Self
What's My Line?
1950 · Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self