People
Charles Laughton
Acting · follow into films and chains
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."
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Spartacus
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Night of the Hunter
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Mutiny on the Bounty
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Witness for the Prosecution
As Sir Wilfrid
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
As (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Hobson's Choice
As Henry Horatio Hobson
Jamaica Inn
As Sir Humphrey Pengallan
Island of Lost Souls
As Dr. Moreau
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
Storming the Deck
From the Bounty to the Caine, mutiny films have always been about more than shipboard insurrection. This chain charts how cinematic rebellions at sea reflect th...
7 films
The Writer's Fight
From Spartacus to the shadows of the blacklist, a chain of films that honours the courage of Hollywood's silenced screenwriters.
8 films
The Price of Devotion
From the riverbank to the desert, a journey through American cinema's darkest portraits of faith, charisma, and the corruption that follows.
8 films
Topics
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Related people
Collaborators & neighbours
Directed
Acted
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982 · (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Spartacus
1960 · Sempronius Gracchus
Witness for the Prosecution
1957 · Sir Wilfrid
Hobson's Choice
1954 · Henry Horatio Hobson
The Strange Door
1951 · Sire Alain de Maletroit
Captain Kidd
1945 · Captain Kidd
Jamaica Inn
1939 · Sir Humphrey Pengallan
Mutiny on the Bounty
1935 · Captaine Bligh
Island of Lost Souls
1932 · Dr. Moreau
The Old Dark House
1932 · Sir William Porterhouse