Claude Rains : An Actor's Voice

by Skal, David J.

• ISBN13: 9780813124322
• ISBN10: 0813124328
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-10-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

Late in Claude Rains's distinguished career, a reverent film journalist wrote that Rains "was as much a cinematic institution as the medium itself." In Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice, noted Hollywood historian David J. Skal draws on more than thirty hours of newly-released Rains interviews to create the first full-length biography of the actor nominated multiple times for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This portrait of a universally respected Hollywood legend also benefits from the insights of his daughter, Jessica Rains, who provides firsthand accounts of the enigmatic man behind her father's refined screen presence and genteel public persona. With unprecedented access to episodes from Rains's private life, Skal tells the full story of the consummate character actor of his generation.

Author Biography

David J. Skal is the author of numerous books about film and popular culture, including Death Makes a Holiday, Hollywood Gothic and The Monster Show. He has produced and directed two original documentaries about Claude Rains: The Invisible Man and The Phantom of the Opera.
 
Jessica Rains, the only child of Claude Rains, is a producer and actress whose performance credits include The Sting, Pete and Tillie, Islands in the Stream, and Portnoy’s Complaint. A graduate of the American Film Institute’s producer training program, she has produced eleven independent films and videos. She is currently developing a biographical documentary, A Beautiful Friendship: Claude Rains and the Movies.