William Claude Rains (10 November 1889 – 30 May 1967) was an English–American film and stage actor whose career spanned several decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in The Invisible Man (1933) he appeared in classic films such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca and Kings Row (both 1942), Notorious (1946), The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).He was a Tony Award winning actor and was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Rains was considered to be "one of the screen's great character stars" who was, according to the All-Movie Guide, "at his best when playing cultured villains". During his lengthy career, he was greatly admired by many of his contemporaries, such as Bette Davis, Vincent Sherman, Ronald Neame and Albert Dekker, all of whom became close family friends. Rains also inspired many younger actors, such as John Gielgud, Charles Laughton and Richard Chamberlain.William Claude Rains was born on 10 November 1889 in Clapham, London. His parents were Emily Eliza (née Cox) and the stage actor Frederick William Rains. He lived in the slums of London, and, in his own words, on "the wrong side of the river Thames" Rains was one of twelve children, all but three dying of malnutrition when still infants. His mother took in boarders in order to support the family. According to his daughter, Jessica Rains, he grew up with "a very serious Cockney accent and a speech impediment" which took the form of a stutter, causing him to call himself "Willie Wains". His accent was so strong that his daughter could not understand a word he said when he used it to sing old Cockney songs to her or purposely used it to playfully annoy her. Rains left school after the second grade to sell papers so that he could bring the pennies and halfpennies home for his mother. He sang in the Palm Street Church choir, which also brought him a few pence to take home.

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