Charles Laughton

Acting · 1.7 popularity

Age

127

Movies

Born: June 30, 1899 – December 15, 1962
From: Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Website: Visit site

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."

Works

75 films

Witness for the Prosecution

19578.2

Spartacus

19607.5

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

19397.3

Mutiny on the Bounty

19357.4

Jamaica Inn

19396.1

The Sign of the Cross

19326.4

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

19826.7

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau

20146.7

The Paradine Case

19476.3

The Big Clock

19487.3

Island of Lost Souls

19326.9

O. Henry's Full House

19526.9

Advise & Consent

19627.2

Hobson's Choice

19547.4

Salome

19535.8

Blue Bottles

19287.3

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

19918.0

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

20097.5

The Old Dark House

19326.7

Captain Kidd

19456.3

Under Ten Flags

19605.7

Les Misérables

19357.1

The Private Life of Henry VIII

19336.4

Arch of Triumph

19486.0

This Land Is Mine

19437.1

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd

19526.0

The Suspect

19456.8

If I Had a Million

19326.5

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

On Our Merry Way

19485.7

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

19727.3

Rembrandt

19366.8

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

19406.3

The Bribe

19496.3

Young Bess

19535.8

Tales of Manhattan

19426.4

The Tonic

19288.5

The Man on the Eiffel Tower

19495.2

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

19826.0

The Barretts of Wimpole Street

19346.2

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'

19997.3

Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies

1988

Piccadilly

19296.5

The Tuttles of Tahiti

19425.7

The Canterville Ghost

19446.9

Stand by for Action

19427.0

The Strange Door

19516.2

St. Martin's Lane

19387.3

The Horror Show

19793.4

Forever and a Day

19437.5

The Blue Veil

19516.8

They Knew What They Wanted

19406.0

In the Presence of Mine Enemies

1960

The Clerk

19335.0

It Started with Eve

19417.2

Charmed Lives: A Family Romance

2028

Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film

20147.5

Ruggles of Red Gap

19357.1

Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld

19948.5

Devil and the Deep

19325.0

The Man from Down Under

19437.7

Vessel of Wrath

19386.9

The Epic That Never Was

19696.9

I, Claudius

193710.0

White Woman

19335.8

Comets

19307.0

Because of Him

19466.3

Wolves

19308.0

The Art Director

19496.7

Down River

19319.0

Leben des Galilei

19477.0

The Girl from Manhattan

19486.3

Daydreams

19289.0

Payment Deferred

19325.7

Charles Laughton Directs "The Night of The Hunter"

2002